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S 



SEA FIGHTERS FROM 
DRAKE TO FARRAGUT 



SEA FIGHTERS FROM 
DRAKE TO FARRAGUT 



BY 
JESSIE PEABODY FROTHINGHAM 



ILLUSTRATED 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
NEW YORK .'.„•. . • . 1902 



THE LieRAITY Of 
00?«GRE6t, 

Two COMEfi ReOBVED 

SEP. t'J 1902 

OcN^mBHT E»rnnf 

ICLA9B (VXXa Na 

oorY B. 






COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

Published September, 1902. 



Ct •««»•€»«•« ••••• 



Norinool) ^rees 

J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 
Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



CONTENTS 



Sir Francis Drake, 1544-1596 

CHAPTER PAGB 

I. The Hero of Sea-romance .... 3 

II. Chief Pirate of Queen Elizabeth . . 14 

III. On the Fabled Ocean 24 

IV. The Victor of Gravelines .... 34 



Admiral Martin Harpertzoon Tromp, 1597-1653 

V. A Gallant Dutch Seaman .... 47 

VI. A Sea Chase in Northern Waters . . 56 

VII. Sweeping the Narrow Seas .... 65 



Admiral Michael Adriaanszoon de Ruyter, 1607-1676 

VIII. Holland's Famous Sea King .... 79 

IX. The Triumph of the Dutch Navy . . 91 

X. How the Netherlands were saved . . 106 



Marshal Anne-Hilarion de Tourvilley 1642-1701 

XI. The Founding of French Sea-power . . 121 

XII. The Conquest of the Mediterranean . . 134 

XIII. France Supreme on the Waves . . . 149 
V 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Vice- Admiral de Suffren Saint-Tropez, 1726-1788 

CHAPTER 

XIV. The Schooling of a Seaman . . . 163 

XV. On the Indian Ocean 177 

XVI. Struggling against Odds .... 186 

XVII. From Trincomalee to Cuddalore . . 198 

Vice-Admiral Paul Jones, 1747-1792 

XVIII. An International Sea Fighter . . . 215 

XIX. The Birth of the American Navy . . 226 

XX. The "Bon Homme Richard" . . .241 

XXI. French and Russian Honors . . . 267 

Viscounty Lord Horatio Nelson, 1758-1805 

XXII. The World's Greatest Sea Hero . . 269 

XXIII. In the Mediterranean 279 

XXIV. The Battle of the Nile .... 294 
XXV. "England Mistress of the Seas" . , 313 

Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, 1801-1870 

XXVI. America's Chief Naval Leader . . . 335 
XXVII, Adventures with Pirates .... 350 
XXVIII. The Mississippi River Fight . . .357 
XXIX. The Capture of New Orleans . . . 369 
XXX. The Dash past Port Hudson and the Bat- 
tle OF Mobile Bat ...... 377 



ILLUSTEATIONS 

FROM DRAWINGS BY REUTERDAHL, PEIXOTTO, 
AND CHAPMAN 

Engagement between the Bon Homme Richard and the 

Serapis Frontispiece 

FAOLNO PAGE 

Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588 .... 42 

The English and the Dutch Fleets in the Sea Fight 

on the Downs, 1666 100 

The Ranger and the Drake 238 

Nelson's Great Victory at Trafalgar .... 328 

Farragut at Mobile Bay 392 



Tii 



SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

1544-1596 



SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

CHAPTER I 
THE HERO OF SEA-ROMANCE 

No name, in England's annals of the sea, has 
been surrounded with so dazzling a setting of 
romance as that of Sir Francis Drake. During 
his lifetime his adventures found no place in 
sober history. They invaded the realm of folk- 
lore and took strong hold on the popular fancy 
in the shape of marvellous tales and legends. 
But rising out of this wonderland of romance 
Drake will always take his place in history as a 
master in strategy, one of the most skilful of 
navigators, the leader in the movement which 
established England's supremacy on the sea, and 
the first great admiral in the development of 
modern naval science, which had its cradle in 
England, and which substituted the sailing-navy 
for the ancient rowing-navy. 

The stirring times into which Drake was born 
acted as a forcing-house for the growth of char- 
acter. Boys turned into men at a bound. Bred 

8 



SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 



in the nursery to the tune of war and revolution, 
they were trained by danger and privation to 
fight battles at an age when the boy of to-day 
is making ready for college. The youths of 
puritan England, rudely moulded in the prepara- 
tory school of life, were formed for a future of 
adventure and daring by hardships which to us 
appear inconceivable. 

The strange mixture of lax moral standards 
and fierce religious passion and bigotry, the light 
esteem in which human life was held, the rapid 
succession of startling events, the persecutions 
carried on in the name of a holy cause, — all these 
things went to forge men of singular and violent 
contrasts. Drake, the foremost sailor of the 
Reformation, the chief pirate of Queen Elizabeth, 
one of the greatest of England's admirals, was 
one of these men. 

Born in 1544 in the heat of the strife between 
catholics and protestants, little Francis drew in 
with his earliest breath a fierce hatred of Spain 
and a mastering love of the sea. His father, 
Edmund Drake, a zealous protestant with a gift 
for preaching, belonged to a small democratic 
party near Tavistock, in catholic Devon. The 
first glimpse we have of the future sea king is 
when his father fled with him from a sudden out- 
burst of catholic violence and took refuge on St. 
Nicholas Island, in the harbor of Plymouth. The 
child was only six, curly-headed and blue-eyed, 



THE HERO OF SEA-ROMANCE 



but his earliest memories were of hardships and 
danger. 

When we next look for him we find him climb- 
ing the masts of his floating home, so well was 
destiny moulding the future man. In Chatham 
reach, beyond the dockyard, at the mouth of the 
Medway, was the anchorage of vessels when out 
of commission, of war-ships, and of old and useless 
hulks. There the protestant preacher was given 
an appointment, under King Edward, as "Reader 
of Prayers to the Royal Navy," and was assigned 
a rotting hulk as a dwelling-place. So the boy 
Francis played among the masts, his nursery was 
in the midst of the war-ships' guns, he fell asleep 
rocked by the waves to the lullaby of the sailors' 
songs and the rush of the tide. 

Under Edward VI, and with the patronage of 
the powerful Earl of Bedford, the protestant 
preacher hoped to place his boys in the navy, but 
a rude change shattered this expectation at a 
stroke. King Edward died, " Bloody " Mary, the 
catholic Queen, succeeded to the English throne, 
and the land was threatened with a prince of 
Spain as husband to the Queen. Then it was that 
the bursting storm of the Reformation threw all 
England into turmoil. Edmund Drake lost his 
position and was forced to send his sons into the 
world alone, to work out their own future. Fran- 
cis was apprenticed as ship-boy on a craft that 
carried on a coasting trade with France and Hoi- 



6 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

land, and on this channel coaster, in privation and 
exposure, the sailor lad learned his severest lessons 
of experience. While his body was being steeled 
to every hardship, his spirit was trained for future 
revenges on the Spanish Main. Passionate tales 
of Inquisition horrors were told by Flemish ref- 
ugees on quay and shipboard. Philip's persecu- 
tions in the Netherlands fanned the flame of the 
English Reformation, and Francis Drake found him- 
self in the centre of the hottest frenzy of religious 
passion. It was in this school that he acquired that 
implacable hatred of the very name of Spain which 
grew to be the motive power of his career. 

Meanwhile events followed one another rapidly. 
Bloody Mary had died, Elizabeth reigned, and the 
protestants were again in favor. Francis had 
grown from lad to youth ; his master skipper had 
died and had left him his little craft on which to 
begin life as an independent trader. Open war 
with Spain had not yet been declared; but cruel 
reprisals by private individuals on both sides were 
rapidly paving the way for the coming rupture. 
The Channel swarmed with rovers. Four hun- 
dred adventurers swept the narrow seas in search 
of plunder. Queen Elizabeth, in her misunder- 
standing with France, had let loose the privateers 
armed with letters of marque to worry the French 
by outrages on their trade. But the wild pirate 
crews, once started on the scent of booty, were not 
to be held in the leash of crown commissions. 



THE HERO OF SEA-ROMANCE 



The enormous wealth of the Spanish trade 
courted depredation. Spanish galleons were 
chased and scuttled. Catholic vessels were 
looted. Rich cargoes of saffron, cochineal, silk, 
wool, gold, silver, pearls and precious stones, 
linen, tapestry, and wine were carried off to the 
pirates' lairs on the Isle of Wight, and in the creeks 
and inlets of the Irish coast. In revenge English 
ships were seized in Spanish ports, and English 
sailors lay in the dungeons of the Inquisition. 

Drake was not the man to be left behind when 
others were roving the seas. He had given up 
independent trading. In fact, trading had become 
impossible. And he had entered the service of 
his famous kinsmen. Captain John and Captain 
William Hawkins, the rich ship-owners and pirate 
merchants of Plymouth. The chief seaport town 
of picturesque Devon might well have been called 
one of the pirate centres of the English coast. Its 
harbor was large and safe, and many precious car- 
goes, obtained by foul means as well as fair, were 
brought in by daring adventurers who had scoured 
the narrow sea in search of riches. Neither gold 
nor excitement were hard to find in those days, 
and Plymouth became, according to an old chroni- 
cler of Devon, "a port so famous that it had a 
kind of invitation, from the commodiousness there- 
of, to maritime noble actions." 

These maritime actions, however, were not 
always noble. It was Sir John Hawkins of 



8 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

Armada renown who was the first to initiate the 
English into "the execrable iniquities of the 
African slave trade," which left a " foul blot " on 
his famous voyages to the West Indies. The 
Hawkinses of Plymouth were some of the great 
merchant princes of the sixteenth century. Will- 
iam Hawkins, the father of Sir John, had been 
the first to carry English trade to the coast of 
Brazil. He also made a number of voyages to 
the Canary Islands, and it was on these expedi- 
tions that John Hawkins, who accompanied his 
father, came to know of the riches of the West 
Indies, and the money value of the slave trade. 

John Hawkins was a son of his age, with a 
moral sense no stricter than that of most of his 
fellow-men. The slave trade was not new. Span- 
iards and Portuguese had practised it for genera- 
tions, and the customs of the Middle Ages had 
long before sanctioned the use of Moslem pris- 
oners as galley slaves. Indian slavery in the 
West Indies had become a crying abuse, and it 
was mainly to deliver the freeborn, eagle-souled 
Indians from the bonds of forced labor that the 
infei'ior-raced negro was substituted in slavery. It 
was Las Casas, in the fifteenth century, who, in the 
name of humanity, established that negro slavery 
which Lincoln, more than three hundred years later, 
abolished in the name of the same humanity. 

Before the time of John Hawkins the Engflish 
had not yet soiled their hands with the African 



THE HERO OF SEA-ROMANCE 9 

trade. The first venture was made in 1562 by 
*'the right worshipful and valiant knight, Sir 
John Hawkins." This was four years before 
Francis Drake cast in his lot with his kinsmen. 
Drake first followed William Hawkins and George 
Fenner, and took part in that glorious action when 
with one ship and a pinnace Fenner held a gallant 
stand for two days against six Portuguese gun- 
boats and a large galleasse, and finally forced them 
to retire. 

Afterward he sailed under Captain Lovell on 
the fatal expedition to the West Indies, when he 
had his first sight of those fabled islands, and, at 
Rio de la Hacha on the Spanish Main, his first 
experience of Spanish treachery, the memory of 
which never left him, and, coupled with the long- 
ing for revenge, led him back in the last years of 
his life to the scene of his first reverse. 

In October, 1567, Drake set sail from Plymouth 
harbor as pilot to John Hawkins, with a squadron 
of six vessels armed and victualled for a long 
voyage, on the expedition which turned the scale 
of commercial supremacy and completed the an- 
tagonism of England and Spain. 

In Queen Elizabeth's time neither the navy nor 
the maritime commerce of England were estab- 
lished on a regular footing. The navy, used 
simply as an adjunct to the army, had remained 
undeveloped as an independent instrument of 
national power, and the vastness of its resources 



10 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

were still undreamed of. Later on, Drake proved 
the wonderful possibilities of a strongly equipped 
fleet in war time, by turning the enemy's coast- 
line into the centre of hostilities, and by destroy- 
ing his trade with foreign countries. 

But meanwhile the fleets of commerce and war 
were intermingled. Queen Elizabeth in time of 
peace used her men-of-war for commerce, while in 
war time she supplemented her scanty squadrons 
by merchantmen. In this way it became difficult 
to draw the line between official naval expedi- 
tions and private commercial enterprises, which 
in those days were frequently synonymous to buc- 
caneering. It often happened that the Queen 
was one of the shareholders in the filibustering 
expeditions of Hawkins and Drake, and contrib- 
uted some ships of war to the outfit. She was too 
much allured by the prospect of untold riches in 
gold, pearls, and precious stones to resist the 
temptation of enriching her private coffers by 
becoming a secret partner in the buccaneering 
ventures of her favorite pirates. 

But while allowing her cupidity to get the 
better of her conscience, she was careful to assume 
public ignorance, and even disapproval of the 
practices of her unruly subjects, especially when 
Spanish ambassadors called peremptorily for satis- 
faction. And although her partners in adventure 
were sure of a cordial welcome to their precious 
cargoes, they were not always so certain as to the 



THE HERO OF SEA-ROMANCE 11 

personal reception they might receive at the hands 
of the Queen. It might be the gallows ; it might 
be knighthood. 

But the game was worth the candle, and so it 
was that on that October day in 1567 Hawkins 
and Drake sailed out of Plymouth harbor with 
what amounted to a naval squadron, loaded with 
ammunition and even field artillery, ostensibly 
furnished by Sir William Garrard & Co., and 
costing about $650,000, but provided by the 
Queen with two ships of war, the Minion and 
the Jesus. Elizabeth herself never contributed 
money ; she left that to the other shareholders, 
even to the fitting out of her own war-ships. 

The squadron met with bad weather from the 
very first. Near Cape Finisterre a violent storm 
damaged and scattered many of the vessels, but 
they succeeded in reaching their first rendezvous 
at the Canary Islands. From there they sailed 
southward to the coast of Guinea, in western 
Africa, where the traders spent several months 
in collecting negroes. Partly by means of the 
sword, and partly by exchange of scarlet coats 
and beads, they succeeded in storing away in 
their holds as many as five hundred slaves. 
Thus equipped with trading material, they 
crossed over to the Caribbean Sea, reaching the 
West Indies in the following March. 

It was not so easy as they had hoped to dis- 
pose of their cargo, for traffic with the English 



12 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

had been forbidden in the colonies by the Span- 
ish government. But the blandishments of the 
adventurers and the cupidity of the natives com- 
bined to bring about satisfactory results, and in 
obstinate cases there was always the resource of 
arms. Rio de la Hacha, having presumptuously 
fired upon the pirate ships, received her recom- 
pense. The port was blockaded, the defences 
stormed, and the town carried by assault. Then 
in secret, under cover of the night, the unlawful 
trade began, and two hundred slaves were ex- 
changed for gold, silver and pearls, sugar, and 
hide. 

Hawkins and Drake were so well pleased 
with their valuable cargo that they decided not 
to venture a landing, but to sail direct for home. 
Unhappily they had tarried too long in those 
treacherous waters. Two fierce furicanos^ or hur- 
ricanes, disabled the squadron and obliged them 
to seek shelter in San Juan de Ulua, or Vera 
Cruz, the port of the City of Mexico. 

In the harbor the English adventurers found 
a Spanish merchant fleet of twelve vessels un- 
armed and laden with the year's produce of the 
West Indies, — gold and silver to the amount 
of 110,000,000. It lay at anchor waiting for the 
escort, which was hourly expected, to convoy it 
on the home-bound voyage. On the following 
morning the fleet of Spain appeared outside the 
harbor. Hawkins found himself in a difficult 



THE HERO OF SEA-ROMANCE 13 

position ; he was obliged to choose between two 
evils. Either he could trust to Spanish protes- 
tations and Spanish honor to be left unmo- 
lested, or he could keep the enemy's fleet from 
entering the harbor and leave it to the mercy 
of the winds and waves, to be completely de- 
stroyed by the first storm, then seize the treasure 
and make off for merry England. But this meant 
the shipwreck to Spain of more than §22,000,000, 
and Hawkins feared the displeasure of the Queen. 
It would doubtless have hurried on the rupture 
with Spain. 

Hawkins chose to rely upon the promise of 
the Spaniards, and allowed the fleet to enter the 
harbor. His reward was treason. In spite of 
sacred oaths and solemn pledges, the wily Span- 
iards fell suddenly upon the English squadron 
and overwhelmed it with a vastly superior force. 
The resistance was desperate ; the adventurers 
fought for their lives, but being wholly unpre- 
pared for the dastardly attack, they could save 
but few of their vessels. The smaller craft were 
sunk, and the Jesus was so shattered that they 
were obliged to abandon it with all its precious 
spoils. The Minion, with Hawkins on board, 
and the little Judith, with Drake, alone escaped on 
that fatal night. Riddled with shot and terribly 
damaged, the crews half starved, they straggled 
homeward and crept into Plymouth harbor with- 
out a remnant of their immense cargo. 



CHAPTER II 

CHIEF PIRATE OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 

Drake lost no time. He rode post-haste to 
London to lay his grievances before the Queen, 
and urge her to demand redress for the outrages 
that had been offered him. Elizabeth lent a will- 
ing ear to the secret plans of her chief pirate. As 
yet she could not challenge Philip ; but the rela- 
tions between England and Spain grew more 
strained, trade was stopped, and the Queen cov- 
ertly abetted the daring schemes of reprisal 
planned by her foiled adventurer. Drake meant 
to deal a heavy blow to Spain, but he was in no 
hurry. He needed preparation, and his revenge 
could wait. 

In 1570, two small vessels, the Dragon and the 
Swan, stole unnoticed out of Plymouth harbor 
bound on a secret mission. Drake was in com- 
mand, and his object was to reconnoitre the West 
Indies and gain knowledge and information so 
that he might return some day and strike at their 
most vulnerable spot. In the following year a 
second expedition went out, this time with the 
Swan alone. In those two years Drake saw what 
he wanted to see, and laid his plans for the future. 

14 



CHIEF PIRATE OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 15 

Prepared to put his reckless scheme into execu- 
tion, on Whitsunday Eve, in 1572, Drake set sail 
from Plymouth at the head of a tiny squadron 
and a handful of men.^ The PascJia of seventy 
tons, Drake's flag-ship, led the van ; and the rear 
was brought up by the Swan, of twenty-five tons, 
with his brother John Drake as captain. This was 
all : two small vessels, one of which was less than 
a quarter the size of the smallest class of modern 
channel coasters, and the other no heavier than 
a revenue cutter of to-day. These toy men-of-war 
were fitted out with every warlike device, muni- 
tion, artillery, tools, and three small pinnaces 
made to be taken apart and set up at short notice. 
The crews numbered seventy-three men, of whom 
only one was over thirty years of age. It seemed 
like a boy's crazy venture. 

With a favorable wind the squadron sailed with- 
out a stop until it had its first sight of Guada- 
loupe, one of the Leeward Isles, in the West 
Indian group. On reaching Port Pheasant, a 
small, land-locked harbor in the Gulf of Darien 
on the mainland, Drake dropped anchor and 
started to set up his pinnaces. It was a safe bay 
and convenient for his purpose. While in the 

1 The most interesting accounts of Drake's voyages are the 
original relations, written by some of his followers or contem- 
poraries, and published in the English Garner, by Edward Ar- 
ber. Vol. V, and in the volumes of the Hakluyt Society. Among 
modern works, Julian Corbett's Sir Francis Drake and his 
Drake and the Tudor Navy are stirring and comprehensive. 



16 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

midst of his work, a strange squadron hove in 
sight. It proved to be nothing more dangerous 
than a vessel belonging to the well-known pirate 
of the Isle of Wight, Ned Horsey. Captain 
Ranse was in command and was bringing in a 
Spanish caravel and a shallop that he had cap- 
tured. The two adventurers decided to join 
forces ; and when, seven days later, the united 
squadrons crept out of the hidden harbor, they pre- 
sented no mean appearance. 

Westward along the coast they stole toward 
Nombre de Dios, the treasure-house of the Spanish 
Main, and in a week's time a tiny force lay at 
midnight under the bluff, at the point of the har- 
bor. Drake, with seventy-three men, three pin- 
naces, and one shallop, waited breathlessly for the 
breaking of the dawn, the time appointed for the 
attack. Twenty-four of the men were armed with 
muskets, the rest with pikes and bows, and four 
men had been selected for the marine band and 
provided with drums and trumpets to inspire the 
crew and alarm the natives. 

Silently the young and untried hands waited in 
the shadows of the night until their nerves were 
strained to the highest tension. In awed whispers 
they retailed to one another the reports that had 
come to them of the strength of the town and 
of the Spanish troops near at hand. Then as 
the light of the rising moon began to illumine 
the sky, Drake, to break the spell, and under 



CHIEF PIRATE OF QUEEI^ ELIZABETH IT 

pretence that the day was daAvning, ordered the 
assault. 

Twelve men were left to hold the pinnaces, so 
as to make sure of a safe retreat. The rest of the 
company were divided into two groups, and ad- 
vanced upon the Plaza from different sides. Six 
fire-pikes with blazing tow lighted the way, and 
cast a lurid glow over the streets ; the drums and 
trumpets sounded with maddening din. But the 
town had been aroused ; the great church bell was 
clanging out the alarm, and the people ran hither 
and thither, with cries and shouts that grew into 
a threatening roar. The soldiers had been called 
to arms, and at the end of the Plaza, near the 
Panama gate, they were drawn up to receive the 
attack. 

A sharp volley of shot greeted Drake and his 
men full in the face. But the Englishmen, noth- 
ing daunted, let fly their roving arrows, and 
then, hand to hand, with pike and sword, they 
closed upon the Spaniards. Lashed by the arrows 
and startled by the blinding flame of the fire- 
pikes, the ranks of the Spaniards began to waver. 
Then panic seized them, their arms were thrown 
away, and in confusion and terror they fled 
through the Panama gate. 

The Plaza was left in the hands of the adven- 
turers. Drake placed a guard at the entrances, 
and with the rest of his men took possession of 
the governor's house. There, in a lower room, a 



18 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

blaze of treasure met their eyes. Great silver 
bars, seventy feet long, ten feet wide, and twelve 
feet high, were piled against the wall, and glinted 
in the light. The poor Devon lads looked in half- 
dazed wonder at the unaccustomed sight; but 
Drake ordered not a bar to be touched. Spanish 
soldiers were still in the town, and the treasure- 
house of the King stood near the water's edge, 
stored with far greater wonders of gold and 
precious stones, enough to overflow their pin- 
naces. 

At this moment some of the men came running 
from the shore with the report that the pin- 
naces were in danger of being captured. On 
hearing this news, Drake ordered a party under 
John Oxenheim to reconnoitre the shore, and made 
a rendezvous at the treasure-house. Scarcely had 
they started when a fierce tropical storm burst 
suddenly over their heads. The thunder roared 
and the rain fell in torrents, wetting their bow- 
strings and ruining their powder. By the time 
they reached the shore, the men had lost their 
nerve. Even the taunts Drake hurled at them 
failed to restore their grit. 

" I have brought you to the door of the treas- 
ure-house of the world," he cried; "blame no 
one but yourselves if you go away empty ! " 

Then he stepped forward and ordered them to 
break into the treasure-house. But as he did so, 
he fell on his face, and the blood gushed from a 



CHIEF PIRATE OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 19 

wound in his leg. He had been shot early in the 
encounter, and had concealed it that his men 
might not lose heart. His followers lifted him 
from the ground, and against all his entreaties 
carried him to his boat; and to preserve their 
captain's life they abandoned the rich spoil which 
they had come so far to seek. 

Mysteriously the dreaded pirate vanished from 
sight as suddenly as he had come. For a time he 
disappeared from the Spaniards' view. But in a 
hidden bay in the Gulf of Darien, his favorite 
secret retreat, other and stranger projects were 
being brewed. With the help of the Maroons, a 
savage tribe of escaped negro slaves, Drake 
planned to intercept the gold that was carried on 
mule packs across the Isthmus to be shipped to 
Spain. But months must pass before the opening 
of the dry season when the ambush could be laid, 
and meanwhile his pinnaces stole from the harbor, 
swept the seas, held up passing ships, and raided 
the neighboring coast. 

For six months Drake lay in hiding. At first 
all was cheerful bustle and activity in the tropical 
camp. Between play and work, the summer and 
autumn months flew by. Then came the rainy 
season, and in its train suffering, misfortune, and 
disease. John Drake was killed in a rash en- 
counter, Joseph Drake died of the pestilence, 
provisions ran short, and as the sun shone again 
through the murky, steaming atmosphere, scores 



20 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

of men dropped dead of the fever. It was a time 
to try the stoutest heart. 

By the last of January, when news finally came 
that the escort fleet had arrived at Nombre de 
Dios and the gold was moving in the mule trains 
from Panama, only forty-five men had survived, 
out of the original seventy-three who had sailed 
from Plymouth eight months before. Of these, 
many were too ill to move, and eighteen youths 
formed the small band of Englishmen that started 
on the wild and desperate march across the Cor- 
dilleras. The rest of the party of forty -eight 
were Maroons. 

Through the dense forests of magnificent, 
primeval trees, unlighted by the rays of the sun, 
the little band crept along the trail in deathlike 
silence. Four negro guides went on before and 
marked the path with broken boughs. A week's 
march brought them to the summit of the pass, 
and there a marvellous sight met the eyes of the 
great adventurer. At his feet lay the Atlantic 
Ocean whose waters he had roved, and on the 
south rolled the mighty Pacific, the fabled ocean 
never before seen by English eyes. 

Filled with awe and a great wonder he "be- 
sought Almighty God, of His goodness, to give 
him life and leave to sail once in an English ship 
on that sea ! " After years of waiting, his desire 
was to be finally granted, and this day marked a 
period in his life of greater importance than all 



CHIEF PIRATE OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 21 

the reckless escapades of piracy and ambuscade in 
which his spirit revelled. 

Fired with a new hope, he now flung himself down 
the steep descent to Panama, and on the Nombre de 
Dios road lay in ambush with his men. The mule 
trains, laden with gold and jewels, were hourly ex- 
pected. Through long, weary hours they waited, 
crouching in the tall grass, silent and breathless. 

Presently the tinkle of mule bells came faintly 
down the road, and the hearts of the Devon lads 
beat quicker at the thought of the fabulous wealth 
that lay within their grasp. The moment was at 
hand for which they had endured months of wait- 
ing and of incredible hardships ; but the curiosity 
of one man spoiled the well-laid scheme, and all 
because he had drunk too deeply of clear aqua 
vitce. The name of Robert Pike gained unenvied 
notoriety. He had received orders to lie close to 
the ground and keep motionless. The safety of 
the whole party depended on secrecy. But, eager 
to see with his own eyes whether the coveted 
treasure was nearing the ambuscade, he raised 
himself above the protecting grass. He was seen 
by the enemy, and the alarm was given. 

Craftily the Spaniards sent the victual train 
ahead, while the precious gold packs turned back 
toward Panama. When Drake and his men, with 
shouts and cries, leaped from the thicket and fell 
upon the heavily laden mules, they found not a 
grain of the rich and coveted booty. 



22 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

The famous march and ambuscade had failed, 
but Drake's temper was not one to be tamely 
thwarted. He now planned a second journey, 
this time along the coast from Rio Francisco to 
Nombre de Dios. Meanwhile he played a bewil- 
dering game on the Spaniards. He appeared and 
vanished as if by enchantment. One day he 
captured and sacked Venta Crux. Within a 
fortnight he threatened the port of Veragua. His 
agile pinnaces sped here and there, eastward and 
westward, picking up Spanish frigates. No one 
knew where El Braqiie might next appear. 

On the morning of the 1st of April a mule 
train, laden with gold and silver, was travelling 
along the road to Venta Crux. A mile from the 
town, within earshot of the carpenters working at 
the docks, lay an English ambuscade. The mule 
bells tinkled on the road from Panama. Suddenly 
the dead silence was broken by a frightful din. The 
foremost and hindmost mules were seized, and the 
rest lay down. Volleys of bullets and arrows 
spread terror among the guard of soldiers. In a 
panic they fled, leaving the mules and their pre- 
cious burdens in the hands of the victors. 

Swiftly and dexterously the silver bars were 
hidden in the burrows of the land-crabs, or buried 
under the gravel of the river bed. The gold was 
stowed away in shirts and pockets, and with 
forced marches the Devon lads returned to Rio 
Francisco. But their pinnaces were nowhere to be 



CHIEF PIRATE TO QUEEN ELIZABETH 23 

seen. Instead, seven Spanish craft rode in the har- 
bor, and all hope of safety seemed for the moment 
gone. But when the whole company despaired, 
Drake's ingenuity found a way of escape. 

A raft was built from drifted tree trunks, and, 
with a biscuit sack for a sail and a tree for a 
rudder, Drake with three men started on a wild 
sail over an angry sea lashed into high waves by 
a fierce wind. The scorching sun beat down 
upon them, the waves dashed to their shoulders ; 
they sat for six hours in water to their waists, 
until their strength was almost exhausted. As 
night came on, in a quiet cove behind a point 
of land, where they had retreated for shelter, the 
pinnaces were found. That night Drake rowed 
back to Rio Francisco, recovered the silver which 
had been hidden in the holes and sand, took in 
his men and the treasure, and at the first gray 
streaks of dawn set sail to join the larger ships. 

A fortnight later the English lads started on 
their homeward journey, laden with a rich booty ; 
for, besides the treasure of gold and silver, they 
had overhauled two hundred vessels in the Carib- 
bean Sea. After a prosperous home voyage, they 
sighted the harbor of Plymouth on Sunday, the 
9th of August, 1573. It was church time when 
the little ships sailed into port, but so great was 
the joy at their return that the congregations 
hurried down to the docks to greet the successful 
adventurers. 



CHAPTER III 

ON THE FABLED OCEAN 

Drake had returned to England with no 
wish to rest. Burning with the desire to thread 
the mazes of the fabled Pacific, he used every 
effort to persuade the Queen and her counsellors 
to sanction his mighty project. But contrary 
influences were at work, and for four years he 
was obliged to wait. At last his time and op- 
portunity came. Elizabeth contributed a thou- 
sand pounds to the expedition, on condition that 
everything should be kept a profound secret. 

In November, 1577, Drake stood on the deck 
of his ship in his "loose, dark, seaman's shirt, 
belted at the waist," and his scarlet cap, watch- 
ing, with who knows what deep fervor and 
what secret excitement, the squadron riding in 
Plymouth harbor that was to carry him on his 
perilous voyage and realize his great dream. His 
ships were mere cockle-shells, no larger than 
modern coasters: the Pelican of one hundred 
tons and eighteen guns, the Elizabeth of eighty 
tons, and the Marigold^ a bark of thirty tons, 
both carrying sixteen guns, the Swann^ a provi- 

24 



ON THE FABLED OCEAN 25 

sion ship of fifty tons, and the Christopher^ a 
pinnace of fifteen tons. These vessels, manned 
by a hundred and fifteen men and fourteen boys, 
were fitted out for a long and dangerous voyage. 
For munition they carried "cartridges, wildfire, 
chainshot, guns, pistols, bows, and other weapons." 

With this squadron Drake planned to sail into a 
chartless and unknown ocean, to brave a shadowy 
world which superstition had peopled with every 
inconceivable terror of storm, darkness, and fire. 
To his crew his final destination was a secret, 
and, when the squadron finally put to sea on the 
13th of December, its alleged destination was 
Alexandria. Not until they had reached the 
coast of Morocco was the real object of the ven- 
ture known. 

Through stress of gales, fogs, and tempestuous 
seas, of mutiny, treason, and the tragedy of an 
ocean lynch-court and an execution off the lonely 
coast of Patagonia, the storm-tossed fleet kept on 
its perilous course. A less unflinching spirit than 
that of Drake would have quailed under the ter- 
rible struggle. Only three out of the five ships 
were brought to the Golden Gates of the South 
Sea. On the 20th of August, more than eight 
months after sailing from Plymouth, the little 
fleet reached the Straits of Magellan and en- 
tered, in cold and in sickness, the dangerous pas- 
sage between high, gray cliffs and snow-topped 
mountains. On the 6th of September the Peli- 



26 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

can, rechristened as the world-famed G-olden 
Hind, sailed into the Pacific Ocean, the first of 
English ships to ride the tempest-swept waters 
of the South Sea. 

But the stress of the fight had only just begun. 
No sooner had the discoverers entered the con- 
fines of the new sea-realm than all the fury of a 
violent tempest burst over them. For six weeks 
they were tossed to and fro, battered and torn, 
swept six hundred miles out of their course. In 
three weeks the Marigold went down with all 
on board. A week later the Elizabeth became 
separated from the flag-ship, and Captain Wynter, 
losing heart, returned through the Straits the way 
he had come, and sailed back to England. 

Drake was left alone, but unsubdued. And the 
storm, as if exhausted in its battle with the man of 
iron will, fell away and died. Again the sun 
shone out and fair winds smoothed the waters. 
Drake found himself threading the islands of 
Tierra del Fuego, and then on a late October day 
he knew that he was one of the great discoverers 
of the world. He stood on the southernmost 
point of land of the western hemisphere, and at 
his feet, where the dream of ages had placed a 
mystic terra incognita, the waters of the Atlantic 
and the Pacific rolled together in one mighty 
ocean. With his hand he struck from the chart 
the Terra Australia Incognita. 

From this moment his voyage became a tri- 



ON THE FABLED OCEAN" 27 

umphal progress. Turning his face northward, 
he sailed up the coast of Cliile and Peru, and as 
he went he made surveys of the coast. But the 
adventurer in him had not yet been wholly lost 
in the navigator and discoverer. In his veins still 
flowed the hot pirate blood, and now prize after 
prize marked his advance. 

In Valparaiso harbor a rich galleon of Spain 
rode at anchor, heavily laden with Spanish bullion 
to the amount of thirty-seven thousand ducats, 
when suddenly the Grolden Hind hove in sight. 
Never before had a strange sail been seen in these 
waters, and the crew of the Grand Captain of the 
South thought the new arrival was a friendly 
vessel. The Spaniards brought out bottles of 
Chile wine to drink to the newcomer's health, 
but they drank too deeply. Tumbled into the 
hatches of their own ship by the English sailors, 
they did not recover from their amazement before 
the whole treasure had been rifled. 

Then on to Tarapaca. Bars of silver lay piled 
upon the pier. Trains of sheep from the inland 
came to deposit their precious loads, which a 
favorable wind was to carry to Panama. Instead, 
the rich stores went to make ballast for the pirate 
ships. Next came Arica, where the English 
buccaneers found wedges of silver as large as 
"brick-bats." Day by day fresh booty fell into 
their hands. 

Reaching Callao de Lima, news was brought to 



28 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 



Drake that a Spanish galleon, laden with large 
quantities of gold and precious stones, had sailed 
for Panama. No time was lost. Drake flew in 
pursuit. The Cacafuego had a good fourteen 
days' start, but the Crolden Hind was fleet of 
wing. Northward the good ship dashed under 
press of sail, and hour by hour as she sprang over 
the waves the distance shortened. For eight 
hundred miles the ocean race went on. 

At six o'clock, on the evening of the ninth day, 
the treasure-ship was sighted, and the chase 
ended. One broadside cleared the decks of the 
Cacafuego^ and in mid-ocean the ship was rifled. 
Chests of plate, twenty-six tons of silver, eighty 
pounds weight of gold, and countless jewels filled 
the hold of the Grolden Hind, 

Drake now thought of home. His precious 
cargo, he felt, must no longer be risked in mad 
exploits. But for him it was too tame a thing 
to return on his steps, and he desired no less 
than to " cut a furrow with his keel " around 
the globe. With this new enterprise in view, the 
first necessity was a complete refitting of the 
G- olden Hind^ for " twenty thousand miles of un- 
known water " lay before him. A month was 
spent in a bay in Lower California ; hull, rigging, 
and sails were overhauled, and the whole ship 
thoroughly repaired. 

Then straight across the Pacific, Drake took 
his course : past the Caroline Islands, past the 



ON THE FABLED OCEAN 29 

Philippines, past the Moluccas. Creeping among 
the maze of dangerous shoals and coral reefs in 
the sea of Celebes, the Golden Hind ran suddenly 
upon a hidden rock. For twenty hours she lay 
at the mercy of the waves, caught fast, with no 
hope of rescue. In despair, eight guns and three 
tons of cloves were thrown overboard ; at the 
same time the wind veered suddenly to lar- 
board, sails were hoisted, and the ship slid off 
the reef. This was the last and greatest danger. 
Soon the G-olden Hind was clear of the Archipel- 
ago, and bounding past the Cape of Good Hope. 
And in two years and ten months from the day 
of sailing she swept into Plymouth Sound. 

In England nothing had been heard of Drake 
for eighteen months. It was generally supposed 
that he had perished in the chaos of the South 
Sea. Rumors even of his execution by the 
Spaniards had reached London, and the peace 
party were relieved at the thought that the 
Queen's chief pirate would no longer endanger 
their relations with Spain. Then like a thunder- 
bolt he reappeared, covered with renown and 
laden with fabulous riches. But he arrived to 
find that the Queen had disowned him, and that 
the Spanish ambassador was calling loudly for 
redress. It seemed as though his reception might 
be an execution rather than a triumph. 

Accustomed to the vagaries of Elizabeth's 
moods and to the policy of the English crown, 



30 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

Drake, with his customary independence, dropped 
anchor behind St. Nicholas Island, in Plymouth 
harbor, where his father had fled with him from 
persecution thirty years before. There he was 
content to wait, and before long, as he had fore- 
seen, a messenger sped from court to summon 
him before the Queen. When he obeyed the 
summons it was not with empty hands. Drake 
knew Elizabeth's fondness for piracy, or rather 
for its plunder, and the richest of the spoils went 
with him as a gift to her and to her courtiers. 

This was the turning-point of the scales of 
fortune. Beguiled by the vastness of the booty, 
and filled with admiration for Drake's daring ex- 
ploits, the Queen loaded him with honors. He 
became the hero of the hour. All England rang 
with his praises. A cry of exultation rose 
throughout the land, from shore to shore, from 
the Lizard to the Downs. 

The booty was carried to the Tower, but before 
registration 1400,000 were extracted from the 
pile as Drake's share of the spoils, and Elizabeth 
winked at the little game. Later she added an- 
other $50,000 to his reward. The Grolden Hind 
was brought up the Thames and preserved as a 
memorial. A public banquet was given on her 
deck, and the Queen, who graced the board, con- 
ferred on Drake the honor of knighthood. 

But the great discoverer had not come home 
to be petted at court. His far-reaching mind was 



ON THE FABLED OCEAN 31 

devising new and deeper plans for the growth 
of England's supremacy at sea. He was burning 
to prove the hidden possibilities of the navy as a 
separate weapon of warfare. Having discovered 
the vulnerable point in Philip's armor, he spent 
hours in the closet of Queen Elizabeth, showing 
her how the power of Spain, which threatened to 
overwhelm the whole of Europe, might be broken 
by striking a heavy blow at her trade. 

Five years were to pass before he could obtain 
his letters of marque. In the midst of treachery, 
plots, vacillations, and delays, his spirit fretted 
to be loosed once more upon the waters. Mean- 
while he had work to do at home in the organiza- 
tion of the navy, in voting supplies as member 
of Parliament, and in improving the town and 
harbor of Plymouth in his capacity as mayor. 

At last came the order to sail. Philip's seizure 
of English corn-ships precipitated hostilities. The 
fleet which Drake had collected in Plymouth Sound 
was the largest that had sailed under his command, 
and the most extensive privateering fleet on record. 
It numbered two men-of-war, eighteen cruisers, 
and a large number of store-ships and pinnaces ; 
two thousand soldiers and sailors manned the 
expedition. On a day late in September, 1585, 
Drake ran up his colors on the Elizabeth Bona- 
Ventura^ and the fleet stood out to sea. 

Again Drake's goal was the West Indies, but 
with this fresh enterprise a new period in his 



32 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

life was beginning to unfold itself. No longer 
as pirate or discoverer will he now figure : he 
opens his career as naval strategist and com- 
mander. 

In his haste to leave harbor, Drake started short 
of provisions. So on his way he stopped at the 
Bayona Islands, and seized plunder to victual the 
entire fleet. Next came St. lago on the Cape 
Verde Islands. The town was stormed, the island 
raided. From there his course lay across the 
Atlantic to the West Indies. San Domingo was 
reached soon after Christmas. 

San Domingo was a walled and fortified city, 
the largest and most important in the Indies, and 
was strongly garrisoned. Its fall would have a 
powerful moral effect upon the whole of Europe. 
Drake realized this, and felt the importance of 
carrying the position, even though it meant a 
serious naval operation. He planned the attack 
with care. The town was taken by surprise and 
stormed. After a few hours of brisk fighting the 
Spanish troops fled across the river, and the Eng- 
lish held possession of the Plaza. But Drake's 
force was not large enough to garrison the place ; 
and, instead of attempting to hold the city, he de- 
manded and received a ransom of 1250,000. After 
destroying the shipping in the harbor, he moved 
on to the Spanish Main. 

In February he sighted Cartagena, the capital 
of the Main, and one of the wealthiest of the 



ON THE FABLED OCEAN 33 

Spanish cities. Formidable defences surrounded 
it on all sides. A lagoon, to which only two 
narrow entrances gave access, protected it on 
the side of the sea; while a natural creek made 
approach from the land almost impossible. Forti- 
fied intrenchments defended all the channels ; 
powerful forts commanded the approaches, and an 
attempt to storm the city seemed madness. But 
Drake, as usual, found a way out of the difficulty. 

A detachment was ordered to wade through the 
surf and to come unexpectedly upon the city 
at a point where the enemy feared no advance, 
and had made no preparation for defence. At 
the same time a boat-attack was feigned on the 
side of the harbor, in order to deceive the Span- 
iards. The stratagem was successful. The city 
was taken with a rush, the garrison fled, Drake 
burned the shipping, and demanded a ransom of 
$150,000. 

This feat accomplished, he next turned his eyes 
on the wealth of Panama. But sickness had 
broken out among his men, many had died, and 
others were stricken down every day. With his 
diminished force he could not hope for success. 
So toward the last of March he made sail for 
home, fully satisfied that by the capture of San 
Domingo and Cartagena, and the plunder of St. 
lago and Vigo, he had struck a heavy moral 
blow to Spain from which she was not likely to 
recover. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE VICTOR OF GRAVELINES 

In four months Drake reached England, and on 
his arrival at Plymouth promptly wrote to the gov- 
ernment asking for further orders. He had given 
the world a lesson in naval warfare, and had 
changed the tide of European politics, and now 
he stood ready for further exploits. But Elizabeth 
was not anxious to send him on the offensive. 
Plots and threats of war kept England in a state 
of danger, and Drake was needed at home. 
While he chafed to be gone on some new expe- 
dition, he was not inactive at court. He strove 
to awaken a warlike spirit in the Queen, to show 
her the undreamed-of power that lay in the com- 
mand of the sea, and to make her share in his 
projects for naval supremacy. His efforts were 
not futile, and events came to second them. 

Philip had been making vast preparations to 
equip the most powerful fleet that the world had 
yet seen. In all the ports of Sicily, Italy, Spain, 
and Portugal, vessels of enormous size were built, 
provisions and naval stores were amassed, armies 
levied, arms and ammunition collected. No one 

34 



THE VICTOR OF GRAVELINES 35 

as yet knew the projected destination of Philip's 
gigantic Armada, but rumor whispered that it was 
intended for the invasion and conquest of Eng- 
land. Still Elizabeth disbelieved, and closed her 
ears to all entreaties, and her eyes to all proba- 
bilities. But at last strong proof was brought to 
her ; a stolen paper convinced the Queen that she 
was destined to be Philip's victim. For a moment 
she was aroused, and all was feverish activity at 
the English court. 

Drake was given the title of her Majesty's 
Admiral-at-the-Seas ; Borough, the comptroller 
of the navy, was made vice-admiral. A fleet was 
equipped of twenty-three sail: five battle-ships, 
nine cruisers, and nine gunboats. Of these, four 
battle-ships were contributed by the Queen ; the 
rest belonged to Drake and to the London mer- 
chants. 

Drake was too familiar with the Queen's change- 
able moods not to hasten the preparations for de- 
parture. At the earliest possible moment he stood 
out to sea, with orders to sail to Cape St. Vincent, 
destroy the shipping, prevent concentration, inter- 
cept supplies, and disperse the Armada. Hardly 
had he disappeared from port, and was struggling 
onward through a terrific gale, which swept down 
upon his fleet off Finisterre, than a messenger rode 
post-haste to Plymouth. The Queen had veered ; 
she sent orders to Drake which would have ham- 
pered his movements and limited his power. But 



36 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

Drake had gone. Then a pmnace made chase 
straight into the storm, and the gale that Drake 
had braved put the pinnace to flight. The Queen's 
orders were brought back unopened, and her 
Admiral-at-the-Seas sailed on unmolested. 

Cadiz harbor was a forest of masts. Store-ships 
and transports crowded the port. Splendid gal- 
leons and the most powerful galleys of Spain lay 
in the road. Drake determined to sail in. The 
entrance to the harbor was narrow and was de- 
fended by the batteries of the town and of Port 
St. Mary. Access to the inner harbor could be 
had only through the Puntal channel commanded 
by Port Royal. Both entrances were protected by 
shoals and rocks. In the face of these risks it 
seemed like madness to run in. So, at least, 
thought Vice-admiral Borough, when Drake 
called a council of war, and with masterful high- 
handedness announced his intentions. Objections 
were useless ; Drake's policy had been neither 
timorous nor prudent ; he did not follow accepted 
rules ; he was an innovator. 

He now headed for the harbor and sailed in 
between the batteries. His act of audacity filled 
the enemy with consternation. The Spanish ves- 
sels fled in every direction, the galleys were an- 
nihilated by the first broadside. Drake was left 
master of the outer harbor. The store-ships were 
plundered and scuttled, and the whole English 
fleet re victualled with corn, wine, dried fruits, and 



THE VICTOR OF GRAVELINES 37 



biscuit — the provisions which had been accumu- 
lated for the great Armada. 

But the work was still only half done. The 
inner harbor was yet to be raided. With the next 
day's dawn Drake entered the Puntal passage. It 
was but a repetition of the scene in the outer 
harbor. A large galleon of the Marquis of Santa 
Cruz was the first to fall a victim ; then all the 
great vessels of war and many store-ships were 
plundered and burned. Twelve thousand tons 
of shipping were destroyed in twenty-six hours. 
With the first fair breeze Drake stood out of Cadiz 
bay, and in this famous exploit could boast of not 
having lost a single man. 

By his captures Drake had learned all of Philip's 
plans for the Armada. Squadrons from Italy, 
Sicily, and Spain were to meet at Lisbon, the 
headquarters of the huge naval machine. At 
Cape St. Vincent he determined to take his stand 
and intercept them. But his fleet needed water, 
and the only anchorage along the coast for his 
ships was commanded by formidable works. Drake 
announced his intention of storming the forts. 
Borough remonstrated, and was made a prisoner 
in his own cabin. Then, at the head of a strong 
detachment, Drake himself led the attack on 
Sagres Castle. The fort crowned a steep cliff, and 
was considered almost inaccessible. After a gal- 
lant and desperate attempt to carry the castle by 
storm, faggots were piled up against the gate and 



38 . SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

fired. In two hours the garrison surrendered, the 
forts were at Drake's mercy, and the anchorage 
free. 

His next move was toward Lisbon, for he medi- 
tated no less a plan than to fall upon the Spanish 
admiral, Santa Cruz, and the entire Lisbon fleet. 
But orders from the home government forbade him 
from entering the harbor, and he was forced to lie 
outside, hoping to lure or goad the Spanish admiral 
into a fight in open waters. He sent taunting chal- 
lenges, but all was of no avail. Santa Cruz was 
handicapped and could not move. He lay close- 
hauled in Lisbon harbor, and Drake grew tired of 
waiting, and put to sea. 

On his way home he ran in with a great carrack 
from the East Indies, the San Filipe^ a royal mer- 
chantman laden with a rich and valuable cargo. 
A few broadsides brought down her colors, and 
Drake sailed away with a million dollars' worth 
of plunder, and, of still greater value, the papers 
that told the secrets of the East India trade, the 
first step toward the formation of the famous East 
India Company. 

Each time that Drake sailed jubilantly into Ply- 
mouth harbor, to lay at the feet of the Queen offer- 
ings of daring exploits and brilliant successes, and 
still more alluring gifts of sparkling jewels and 
yellow gold, Elizabeth graciously accepted the 
offerings, sent her apologies to Philip, disowned or 
reprimanded her pirate-admiral, and again settled 



THE VICTOR OF GRAVELINES 39 

down to an ignominious peace. The Queen did 
not desire war. The Armada, it was thought, was 
disabled for a year to come, and for twelve more 
months she could rest secure in her apathy and 
carry on her tortuous negotiations. 

Philip, meanwhile, showed surprising energy: 
new galleys were built, and Spanish harbors were 
again crowded with shipping, stores, and ammuni- 
tion. Drake, too, was not inactive. Preparations 
for war went on as before. Rumors reached Eng- 
land that before the year 1587 was out the great 
Armada would sail from Lisbon. Then all was 
bustling activity again at the English court : the 
navy was put on a war footing. Lord Howard was 
appointed high admiral, Drake was given the rank 
of lieutenant to the lord high admiral, and the 
command of a squadron of thirty sail, and the 
whole fleet watched the horizon for the Spanish 
ships. 

Drake's policy would have been to go in search 
of the Armada, before it could sail from home 
ports, and to scatter it over the seas. Four times 
he started with orders to find the enemy, and four 
times he was forced back to Plymouth harbor by 
contrary orders or contrary winds. Never was the 
Queen's vacillating, timorous, parsimonious policy 
more exasperating to the high-strung, impetuous, 
daring temperament of her admiral. Months 
passed, while Drake paced the deck of the Re- 
venge^ fuming at fate, and exercising his men at 



40 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

target practice, although even this was regarded 
as an extravagant waste of ammunition by the 
Queen, and she gave orders that powder and sup- 
plies were to be doled out to the fleet day by day. 

At last, on a day of May in 1588, the Armada put 
to sea. It was a gorgeous display, more fitted for 
a pageant than a war. In the fleet were galleys, 
galleons, and galleasses, all superbly decorated with 
streamers, standards, and gilded images. There 
were bands of music, and cushions and awnings, 
and there were magnificent chapels and state 
apartments. One hundred and forty vessels, carry- 
ing 20,000 soldiers, 8000 sailors, 2000 grandees, 
2000 galley-slaves, formed the fleet which set sail 
under the command of the Duke of Medina 
Sidonia. 

But misfortune still followed the great Armada. 
In the Bay of Biscay it was overtaken by a 
violent storm, and the unwieldy vessels scattered 
hither and thither ; some of the smaller ones were 
sunk, and the others forced to seek the shelter of 
different ports in Spain. Finally the damages were 
repaired, and the fleet again set sail. 

On the 29th of July the Armada was at last 
sighted off the Lizard on the English coast, bear- 
ing down under full sail in the form of a crescent, 
and stretching seven miles from horn to horn. 
On the same day and night ten thousand beacon 
fires leaped from end to end of England's shores 
to give warning of the enemy. 



THE VICTOR OF GRAVELINES 41 

It was a solemn sight when the two fleets had 
their first meeting. The English ships — com- 
manded by such masters of the waves as Howard, 
Prake, Hawkins, Frobisher — were light, swift, 
and easily managed. They could sail in and out 
and round and round among the unwieldy gal- 
leasses, cannonading the enemy and then escaping 
nimbly out of range. For days these quick frig- 
ates teased and harassed the clumsy galleons, and 
pelted their enormous turrets, which looked like 
castellated fortresses. Twice the two fleets closed 
yard-arm to yard-arm in hot and spirited conflict, 
exchanging broadside after broadside of great can- 
non, the English dancing off again after inflicting 
heavy damage. Slowly holding their course along 
the coast the two fleets at last dropped anchor in 
the narrow straits between Dover and Calais. So 
Spain and England lay facing each other — one 
hundred and thirty Spanish ships, the largest and 
heaviest in the world, against one hundred and 
fifty light English frigates. In number they were 
not unequal, but the Spaniards far outstripped the 
English in size, in artillery, and in men. Could 
the slender frigates cope with the mighty ships of 
Spain ■? Yet the Spaniards had one disadvantage, 
to which they partly owed their defeat. Their 
men were soldiers, not marines. They belonged 
to the army rather than to the navy, and fought 
as they would on land. It was the twilight of the 
ancient navy pitted against the first dawn of the 
modern navy. 



42 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

On the next night, past midnight, as the clouds 
covered the moon and no eye could pierce the 
darkness, six vessels crept noiselessly within the 
Spanish line. A moment later the sea was 
illumined, and six moving volcanoes bore down 
upon the terrified enemy. They were the dreaded 
fire-ships, prepared and sent out by the English 
under cover of the night. Then a horrible panic 
seized the Spaniards, and spread from ship to ship 
like flames from sail to sail. Amid confusion and 
yells and unreasonable fear every cable was cut, 
and every vessel took to flight. When daylight 
dawned, the Spanish ships lay disabled and dis- 
ordered off Gravelines. Soon the English fleet was 
astir, and bore down upon the enemy in hot pur- 
suit. Before the day was far spent a furious and 
general conflict had begun, which lasted for six 
hours. The towering ships of the Armada became 
a confused mass, a helpless target for the superior 
gunnery of the English. Riddled, shattered, dis- 
abled, their shot exhausted, the best Spanish ships 
gave up the fight, and drifted with the current 
toward the coast of Holland. And the remnant 
of the great Armada fled — through storm and in 
hunger and sickness — to the shores of Spain, still 
pursued by the agile and swift-sailing English 
frigates. Wreck after wreck drifted on the 
waves, until a handful only of that vast and 
haughty host came wandering back to Spain. 

The glory of the rout of the Invincible Armada 




Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588. 



THE VICTOR OF GRAVELINES 48 

was due to Drake : it was he who won the victory 
of Gravelines, and watched the flying enemy lost 
in the sands of the dangerous coast of Holland, or 
swallowed up in the blackness of a tempestuous 
sea. Though only vice-admiral of the fleet, it was 
his resolution, energy, and heroic daring that led 
the English fleet to the attack while Lord Howard 
loitered behind. 

After the breaking of King Philip's power, 
Drake's ambition grew. It was his dream to com- 
mand an armada of his own, to liberate Portugal, 
and set Don Antonio on the throne. The expedi- 
tion failed, but it was a brilliant failure which 
brought the Spanish king much trouble and the 
English much honor. 

The last act in the tragedy of Drake's life was 
laid among the scenes of his youth and of his early 
triumphs. Drawn irresistibly toward those islands 
in the Caribbean Sea that had witnessed his first 
exploits, he led his squadron to La Hacha, to 
Nombre de Dios, and then in a wave of the adven- 
turous spirit of his boyhood he headed for Truxillo, 
the port of Honduras, and for the rich towns of 
Nicaragua. But a foul wind caught him and held 
him in the fatal Mosquito Gulf, where pestilence 
lurked in every breath of air. 

In a week's time Drake was stricken down with 
illness, and as the fleet sailed back to Puerto Bello, 
he lay in delirium on his bed. On the 28th of 
January, 1596, the great sea king was dead. 



44 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

Few are those who are fortunate enough to pass 
from the scene in the hour of triumph, and at the 
moment of their most brilliant renown, before 
reverses or mistakes have come to dim the lustre 
of their glory. He who had fought throughout his 
life for his country, for fame, revenge, and power, 
for English supremacy at sea, was not granted the 
boon of dying in battle — in that battle which 
crushed the might of Spain and left England mis- 
tress of the waves. 

A league out to sea he was given a seaman's 
grave, and the pirate-admiral, who in life had been 
the mortal foe of Spain, lay alone in those Spanish 
waters over which he had so often led his ships in 
triumph. 



ADMIRAL MARTIN HARPERTZOON 
TROMP 

1597-1653 



ADMIRAL MARTIN HARPERTZOON 
TROMP 

CHAPTER V 

A GALLANT DUTCH SEAMAN 

" I STRUGGLE, but I overcome." This motto and 
the emblem, a lion amidst the waves, adopted by 
the Netherlanders Avhen they freed themselves 
from Spain, stand for the indomitable courage, the 
unyielding spirit, the love of liberty, and the hero- 
ism of the Dutch. 

A race of warriors from the time when the first 
" Count of Holland " established himself on a bog 
at the mouth of the Rhine, and levied toll on every 
vessel that passed up and down the labyrinth of 
stagnant channels which surrounded his morass, 
they went on through long centuries warring for 
their freedom against men and waves. Sea fighters 
throughout their history, they have struggled with 
the ocean and on the ocean ever since they first 
reclaimed the innumerable islands and the wilder- 
ness of mud-banks, which became the little repub- 
lic, conqueror of Spain, and one of the foremost 
maritime and commercial states of Europe. 

47 



48 ADMIRAL TROMP 

Surrounded on almost every side by the North 
Sea and the Zuyder Zee, riddled by rivers, inter- 
laced by the thousand streams which form the 
mouths of the Rhine and the Meuse, water has 
been at all times both Holland's friend and foe, 
her natural element, the source of her wealth and 
strength, and the chief developer of her determina- 
tion, her obstinate perseverance, and her valor. 

First, she conquered the sea, for the waves were 
ever threatening to destroy the land that the rivers 
had gradually built up by their deposits of alluvial 
mud. When the sea had been kept within bounds 
behind high walls and dikes, Holland next set out 
to make herself mistress on the waters. Her 
annals are crowded with the names of valiant sea- 
men who carried her arms and her trade to the 
shores of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. 
Among these names — among her Heemskerks, 
Heins, Tromps, De Withs, De Ruyters, Evertsens, 
— the greatest are those of Martin Tromp and 
Michael De Ruyter. 

At the mouth of the Meuse, among the mud- 
banks and swamps and yellow streams of Holland, 
lies the little town of Brielle. There Martin 
Harpertzoon Tromp was born in 1597. His grand- 
father had been a coasting trader, and his father a 
merchant captain, and the first stories to which he 
listened were of fishermen and sailors, and the 
dangers and adventures of sea life. 

Before he was nine years old, little Martin had 



A GALLANT DUTCH SEAMAN 49 

been to sea on his father's ship, and had seen more 
than one sea skirmish. In 1607 he was in the 
thick of a stirring battle, when a small Dutch 
squadron of twenty-six sail under Heemskerk 
attacked and destroyed the royal fleet of Spain, 
which lay in magnificent array off Gibraltar. 

The elder Tromp, who was captain of one of 
the Dutch ships, had brought his ten-year-old boy 
with him on the expedition. In the heat of the 
struggle, when the vessels were linked to one an- 
other in deadly conflict, when the guns were 
thundering and belching cataracts of smoke, little 
Martin rushed up from the cabin in time to see 
his father fall to the deck, shot dead by a bullet 
from the enemy. His eyes full of tears, he threw 
himself passionately on his father's body, and 
appealed to the sailors to avenge his death. 

Martin's future had been carved out for him by 
inheritance and events. He could be nothing 
other than a seaman, whether as cabin-boy or 
admiral. The step from one to the other was for 
him not a long one. He mounted his grades with 
marvellous rapidity. But in the years before he 
hoisted his admiral's flag he had many adventures 
that inured him to hardship, and shaped his fear- 
less, determined character. 

The rough and hard sea life early formed his 
soul to patience, courage and independence, hon- 
esty, simplicity, and indomitable strength. We 
know very little of those years of training. But 



50 ADMIRAL TROMP 

we do know that he was taken prisoner by a 
British corsair, on which he served as ship-boy 
for three years, and that afterward he was cap- 
tured by Moslem pirates of the Mediterranean. 
And it is not difficult for us to picture to ourselves 
the suffering and bitterness of his life under the 
rod of his pirate-captors. 

When he at last made his escape, and returned 
to his own country and to his home, the merchant 
marine no longer satisfied him. His aspirations 
drew him to a wider field of activity. In 1622 he 
entered the service of the States-General as lieu- 
tenant, and two years later was made captain of a 
frigate. 

After this his rise was swift and certain. He 
was a hard worker, and had mastered every detail 
of his profession. He was both strict and affec- 
tionate with his sailors, whom he called his chil- 
dren, while they in turn called him " Father." 
He studied the condition of the navy, and planned 
reforms in organization and discipline which he 
afterward carried out. When he was promoted 
in 1637 to the rank of lieutenant-admiral, he 
possessed every quality to make a great naval 
commander. Natural capacity and experience had 
together turned out a true seaman. 

On assuming chief command of the Dutch fleet, 
Tromp found it badly disciplined, poorly equipped, 
weakly armed, and insufficiently manned. In two 
years, unknown to Europe, quietly and doggedly. 



A GALLANT DUTCH SEAMAN 51 



he worked a formidable change. His fleet be- 
came well armed, faultlessly trained, and perfectly 
organized. 

When this was accomplished it was time to try 
its strength, and the occasion was not long to seek. 
Spain, for seventy years Holland's bitterest enemy, 
had allied herself with the pirates of Dunkirk and 
was planning an invasion of the republic. At 
Corunna, a northern seaport town of Spain, ships 
were building, soldiers were gathering, and arms 
and provisions being amassed. 

The armada was to sail northward, meet the 
pirates in the Bay of Biscay, and under their 
guidance land an army on the borders of the 
Meuse. Rotterdam and Amsterdam were to be 
overwhelmed, and the entire country subjugated. 
Familiar with the ins and outs of the thousand 
interlacing channels at the delta of the Meuse, the 
pirates could have easily led the Spaniards into 
the heart of Holland. 

The powerful Spanish fleet had not as yet set 
sail when the Dunkirk pirates stole warily out of 
their harbor. Fourteen men-of-war, three frigates, 
and seven armed merchantmen set sail to keep 
their appointment in the Bay of Biscay. But 
Tromp had been cruising in the North Sea on the 
lookout for the pirate sail, and no sooner were 
they well out of harbor than he bore down upon 
them with his eleven ships. 

The fight lasted for eight hours. When night 



52 ADMIRAL TROMP 

fell on the combatants, the sturdy Dutchmen had 
captured two of the largest pirate ships, burned 
a third, and forced the rest to retreat within the 
harbor. Then Tromp left a squadron to blockade 
Dunkirk, and advanced to meet the great Spanish 
armada which had put to sea in the beginning of 
September, 1639. 

Off Beveziers, in the Straits of Dover, Tromp 
sighted the fleet of Spain, her white sail covering 
the water like an immense flock of sea-birds, and 
spreading their wings over miles of the narrow sea. 
The great Mater Teresa was there, of 2400 tons 
and seventy guns. Sixty-seven men-of-war, armed 
with 2000 guns, and manned by 2400 men, were 
slowly bearing down on the Dutch admiral and his 
twelve small ships. 

Vice-admiral De With was cruising near Dover 
with six vessels, and a signal from his chief brought 
him with his squadron to aid in the unequal con- 
test. With this minute fleet, formed in compact 
order, Tromp made a vigorous and sudden attack 
on the armada as it came drifting slowly and con- 
fidently onward. At sunrise on the morning of 
the 16th of September, the battle began by a broad- 
side from Tromp, who had come to close quarters 
with the Spanish admiral. 

For ten hours the raking fire was kept up. The 
Dutch vessels were small and light, and did swift 
and terrible work on the clumsy ships of their op- 
ponents. Don Antonio d'Oquendo, the Spanish 



A GALLANT DUTCH SEAMAN 53 

admiral, finding many of his ships badly damaged, 
retreated toward the coast of England under cover 
of a fog. 

The Dutch followed in pursuit, and on the night 
of the following day, as the moon rose full and 
bright, they fell for the second time on the Span- 
iards with bewildering fury. Again the armada 
retreated in haste and dropped anchor in the 
Downs, where Admiral Pennington with eighteen 
British ships lay ready to protect it. 

Even though the Spanish fleet had sought the 
shelter of British shores and British ships, Tromp 
did not yet despair of destroying it. Reenforced 
by the squadron of thirteen ships which he had 
left to blockade Dunkirk, he dropped anchor in 
the roads, and completely blockaded the Spaniards 
by closing both exits from the Downs. With the 
Goodwin Sands on one side, the English coast on 
the other, and a Dutch squadron at each end of 
the channel, D'Oquendo and his powerful fleet was 
held in a trap by thirty small Dutchmen. 

As long as Tromp chose to lie at the mouth of 
the Downs, D'Oquendo was forced to wait inside. 
And Tromp was in no hurry. He had sent De 
With to the States with an urgent appeal for 
reenforcements, and the entire country answered 
his request with prompt enthusiasm and energy. 
The provinces voted money, raised an army, 
equipped ships, bought guns and powder, and in 
a fortnight had created a new fleet. Ship-owners 



54 ADMIRAL TROMP 

gave up their vessels, the East and West India 
Companies were swift and generous in their help, 
all the maritime towns contributed to the work. 
Vessel after vessel sailed for the Downs, and 
Tromp's fleet, from thirty sail, grew to be a 
hundred and ten strong. 

This was the moment for which the Dutch ad- 
miral had watched and waited. He was ready to 
strike his blow, and to strike hard. But diplomacy 
was still needed in order to secure success. The 
first shot must come from the Spaniards, for Ad- 
miral Pennington had received orders to fight the 
Dutch if they began hostilities. 

One day Tromp sailed tauntingly in his sloop 
through the Spanish lines. The Spaniards, mad- 
dened by his insolence, fired at him. His stratagem 
had succeeded. Returning to his fleet, at sunrise, 
on the morning of the 21st of October, he fired 
the signal for the battle to begin. The British, 
obliged to remain neutral, were watched by a 
squadron under De With. The rest of the Dutch 
fleet, divided into three small squadrons, attacked 
the Spaniards on different sides. 

Confused by the new tactics, helpless in the 
narrow channel, bewildered by the rapidity of the 
attack, the clumsy Spanish galleons fell into a 
hopeless tangle. Many ran ashore, the great 
Mater Teresa was fired, others were sunk or cap- 
tured, and eleven surrendered. Only the squad- 
ron of Dunkirk escaped with D'Oquendo on board. 



A GALLANT DUTCH SEAMAN 55 



On his return home Tromp was loaded with 
honors ; he was knighted by the king of France, 
and later by King Charles of Great Britain ; and 
his own country heaped upon him every mark of 
favor. His brilliant victory had indeed cast new 
lustre on the Netherlands. It had forced the re- 
spect and recognition of foreign countries, had 
shown Europe the strength of her navy, had estab- 
lished her power on the seas, and had opened a 
new era for the wide extension of her commerce. 



CHAPTER VI 

A SEA CHASE IN NORTHERN WATERS 

The chief source of the power of the Nether- 
lands lay, in ever increasing measure, in the pros- 
perity and constant growth of her trade. "The 
Dutch had made themselves the common carriers 
of the world." They had the monopoly of the 
products of Europe and the East. Their vessels 
shipped goods to the ports of Spain, France, Prus- 
sia, Norway, Poland, and Denmark, to England 
and Ireland, Brazil, Arabia, India, China, and 
Japan. 

To strike at their commerce meant to strike at 
the most vital point of their national life. This 
was what the British did ten years after Tromp's 
victory in the Downs. The famous Navigation 
Act, which was passed by the British Parliament 
in 1652, was intended to destroy the vast carry- 
ing trade of the Dutch. It prohibited all foreign 
vessels from importing into Great Britain any prod- 
ucts excepting those of their own country. This 
prohibition was clearly aimed at the enormous 
transport trade of the Dutch, who were practically 
the commercial monopolists of Europe. 

66 



A SEA CHASE IN NORTHERN WATERS 57 

The struggle for commercial supremacy which 
followed, and which was fostered by party spirit 
and national pride, completed the alienation of 
two peoples who by every right should have been 
natural allies. For almost a century the Dutch 
and the English had fought side by side, and their 
blood had mingled in a common cause. Together 
they had shared victory and defeat. Both nations 
were Protestant. Both were republics, for King 
Charles I had been beheaded, and Cromwell was in 
power in Great Britain. Thousands of Dutch refu- 
gees had fled to England from the persecutions of 
Philip II, and many English and Scottish soldiers 
served under the flag of the Netherlands. United 
by the closest bonds of nations, a common inter- 
est in religion, liberties, and commerce, there 
seemed to be every reason for preserving peace. 
A war between them was a war between brothers. 

Yet ambition on the part of the British govern- 
ment, and resentment on the part of the royalist 
refugees in Holland and the Orange party which 
supported them, brought about an unnatural and 
ruinous war, but one that developed the naval 
ability and prowess of both countries. 

While anger and opposition were still smoulder- 
ing among both peoples, ready to burst out on the 
first provocation, two parliamentary ambassadors, 
Lord St. John and Sir Walter Strickland, were 
sent to the Hague by the British Commonwealth 
for the purpose of arranging an alliance with the 



58 ADMIRAL TROMP 

States. Accompanied by a large and brilliant 
suite, they were driven from Rotterdam, where 
they had landed, to the Hague in a procession of 
twenty-five carriages, flanked by liveried footmen. 
They made their entry amid a crowd of Dutch citi- 
zens, who had gathered from all parts to see the 
magnificent pomp of the British embassy. Dinners 
and receptions were followed by a solemn audience 
before the Great Assembly, at which St. John ap- 
peared in a suit of black velvet, a mantle lined with 
cloth of gold, and wearing a hat-band of sparkling 
diamonds. 

But while the reception by the Dutch govern- 
ment was friendly and flattering, a different wel- 
come was given to the ambassadors by a large part 
of the populace, who favored the Stuarts and the 
Orange party. Cries of "regicides," "execution- 
ers," and " king's murderers " greeted St. John 
and Strickland whenever they appeared on the 
streets — insults which St. John remembered and 
revenged on his return to England. 

Added to the animosity of the mob was the dis- 
inclination of the States-General to accept the po- 
litical union proposed by the Commonwealth. The 
ambassadors returned to England without having 
accomplished their purpose, and St. John from vin- 
dictive motives encouraged the passing of the 
Navigation Act as the surest way of destroying 
the chief source of Holland's wealth. 

Other disputes, beside those growing out of 



A SEA CHASE IN NORTHERN WATERS 59 

commercial rivalry, added to the gradual increase 
of hostile feeling between the two nations. Of 
these, one affected the enormous fishing interests 
of the Dutch, and the other their sense of national 
power and pride. The Commonwealth required 
Dutch fishermen to obtain licenses to fish in Brit- 
ish waters, and also insisted with new stringency 
on the striking of the flag in the presence of the 
British colors, in acknowledgment of England's 
ancient claim to the sovereignty of the narrow 
seas. On both of these points the Dutch were 
determined to resist. 

The storm clouds of war which had been fast 
gathering burst into open hostilities toward the 
middle of May, 1652, the immediate cause of the 
rupture being the dispute of the flag. 

Admiral Tromp, who at the head of a fleet of 
fifty ships had been cruising near Dunkirk in 
Flemish waters, was forced by a fierce storm to 
seek the shelter of the English coast, and took 
refuge under lee of Dover Castle. On one side, 
in the Downs, lay Major Bourne with eight men- 
of-war; to the west, in the Channel, Blake was 
cruising with a squadron of fifteen ships. 

For a day and a half Tromp rode in the calm 
waters under Dover cliff without saluting the flag 
of the castle. On the 19th of May, Blake sud- 
denly hove in sight and fired a signal, which meant 
"strike." Still the Dutch admiral's flag flew 
proudly from his masthead. The haughty de- 



60 ADMIRAL TROMP 

mand, answered by the even more haughty refusal, 
could have but one ending. Both admirals meant 
to fight. 

A broadside opened the battle. Tromp, fight- 
ing merely for the honor of his flag, assumed the 
defensive, for war had not as yet been formally 
declared between the two countries, and not until 
Blake had been reenforced by the squadron of 
Major Bourne did he hoist his red flag as the sig- 
nal for a general engagement. Then the fight 
became warm and vigorous. When evening 
closed, no decisive victory had been won by either 
side, but Tromp had gained his point by not salut- 
ing the British flag. On the following morning, 
having kept his position all through the night, he 
drifted toward the French coast. 

War had now begun, and all the efforts of the 
Dutch government could not arrest it. The Hol- 
landers, still smarting under the sting of British 
arrogance, were filled with a deep and resistless 
desire for revenge. Fearing a revolution, unless 
active and prompt war measures were taken, the 
Dutch government sent Tromp to sea, with in- 
structions to "attack the British fleet and fight 
to the bitter end." 

Since the first battle had been fought, rapid 
preparations for war had been in progress in the 
Netherlands, and when Tromp hoisted his flag 
early in July, 1652, he had under his command 
ninety-six ships of war and several fire-ships. But 



A SEA CHASE IN NOETHERN WATERS 61 

we must remember that the Netherlands had 
always been chiefly a trading nation. Their 
regular navy was limited, and counted only a 
small number of lightly armed vessels, whose prin- 
cipal service was to act as escort to the great fleets 
of merchantmen and fishing bosses. To these 
were added, in serious emergencies, a large number 
of hired merchantmen armed with only six or 
eight guns. 

The Dutch navy was in fact almost a hun- 
dred years behind the British navy, which since 
the time of Drake had been steadily developing in 
the strength, size, and equipment of its vessels. 
To offset this inequality, Tromp's genius was 
greater perhaps than that of his rival, and his sea- 
men were the best and most skilful of the age. 

Such was the condition of naval affairs when 
Tromp slipped anchor and headed for the Downs 
in search of Blake. The British admiral had 
sailed northward to attack the Dutch herring 
boats, and had left Vice-admiral Sir George 
Ayscue with a squadron of fifteen men-of-war in 
the Downs. Tromp remembered his successful 
attack and complete rout of the Spanish fleet when 
it lay between the coast and the Goodwin Sands, 
and he decided to try the same stratagem on 
Ayscue. 

Dividing his fleet into three squadrons, he 
closed the outlets of the Downs. But the winds 
were against him. After several days spent in 



62 ADMIRAL TROMP 

tacking and manoeuvring and struggling against 
head winds and calms, he concluded to give up 
this smaller prey, and to sail in search of Blake. 

The British admiral, some weeks before, had 
gone into the northern waters. On the coast of 
Scotland the Dutch fishing fleet of six hundred 
herring smacks was starting on its homebound I 
voyage, when Blake with fifty ships of war * 
plunged into its midst. A fierce struggle fol- 
lowed, in which Blake sunk several of the Dutch 
convoy ships, captured the rest, and destroyed 
many of the fishing boats. Then he headed for 
the Orkneys to intercept the rich East India fleet 
of merchantmen, laden with stores for the home 
trade. 

But into the northern Scottish seas Tromp was 
flying under press of sail in pursuit of the British 
fleet. The Dutch admiral was several days be- 
hind his enemy, but hour after hour he struggled 
on, sometimes with light winds, sometimes with 
no winds at all. He did not know where Blake 
was, but he was determined to find him. For 
fourteen days the sea chase went on. Every hour 
brought Tromp closer to his foe. Then on the 
afternoon of the 5th of August the whole of the 
British fleet was suddenly descried by the Dutch 
lookouts. 

At last the rivals were face to face, and Tromp's 
blood warmed within him at the coming struggle. 
But it was decreed that the battle should not take 



A SEA CHASE IN NORTHERN WATERS 63 



place. A fierce northwesterly gale had been 
blowing for several hours. Gradually it grew into 
a hurricane, and the icy blasts lifted the waters of 
these distant seas into angry, lashing waves which 
smote the fleets with fury. Sea and wind, wind 
and sea, tore and shattered the ships of the Nether- 
lands, and drove them before the tempest out on to 
the unfriendly ocean. 

The full force of the terrific gale had fallen on 
Tromp. Many of his vessels were rent into pieces 
on the rocks of the Shetlands ; others fell into the 
hands of Blake who had taken refuge among the 
islands. Discouraged and disheartened, Tromp 
sailed back to the Texel with only forty disabled 
wrecks, out of the ninety-six ships which had put 
to sea in July. 

Censure and disgrace, accusations of treachery 
and mismanagement, met the old hero on his re- 
turn to Holland. Had not the most powerful fleet 
of the republic been intrusted to the care of their 
admiral, and had he not brought it back a stupen- 
dous wreck? Had not the lives of six thousand 
men been thrown away, and was not every sea 
town of the Netherlands smitten with sorrow and 
ruin? An official investigation was instituted, 
and Tromp, deprived of his command, spent three 
months in inaction and dishonor. 

While its admiral had been sailing the Scottish 
seas, the Dutch government had not been idle. It 
had collected and equipped a second fleet of thirty 



64 ADMIRAL TROMP 

ships, the command of which was given to Michael 
De Ruyter. During Tromp's short disgrace, De 
Ruyter won a brilliant victory off Plymouth over 
a British fleet of forty large and well-armed men- 
of-war under Ayscue. But this success for the 
arms of the republic was offset by the discomfit- 
ure of De With, who had temporarily succeeded 
Tromp in his high command. 

De With, nicknamed the " bellicose," fiery and 
impetuous by nature, always plunging into the 
thickest of the fight, with the red war flag run to 
his masthead, struggled bravely against wind, 
storm, and treachery. But after a splendid and 
dashing attack, and a short-range battle which 
lasted the whole of one day, he was forced to re- 
treat to the shelter of the home coast. 



CHAPTER VII 

SWEEPING THE NARROW SEAS 

By the beginning of November, 1652, a month 
after the return of De With, the reputation of 
Tromp had been cleared and he was reinstated in 
the confidence of the government. Restored to 
the head of the fleet, which numbered ninety ships 
of war, eight galliots, and eight fire-ships, he put 
to sea on the 1st of December. 

An immense outbound merchant fleet of five 
hundred ships lay at the mouth of the Meuse 
awaiting his protecting escort on their voyage 
westward through the Channel. But news came 
that Blake was off the Downs, and Tromp ordered 
the merchantmen and part of his fleet to put back, 
while he sailed in pursuit of Britain's admiral. 
On the 9th of December he sighted the British 
fleet off the Goodwin Sands. 

Blake started for the open sea, and Tromp sailed 
full speed after him, with the blue flag for general 
pursuit flying from his masthead. After a chase 
of thirty-six hours the lighter Dutch vessels over- 
took the British near Dungeness Head, off Dover. 
Blake was forced to accept battle, and after the 

65 



66 ADMIRAL TROMP 

first volley between the rival flag-ships had been 
exchanged a terrific cannonading set in. 

Tromp in the Brederode was enveloped in a 
cloud of thick smoke. On one side the Garland^ 
on the other side the Adventure of forty guns, kept 
up an obstinate fight, while Vice-admiral Evertsen 
came to the assistance of his chief alongside the 
Adventure. After an hour the British crews sur- 
rendered, and the Orange flag was nailed to the mast. 
By the close of the day, Blake, completely de- 
feated, ran for shelter under lee of Dover Castle, 
and later retreated to the Thames. On the fol- 
lowing morning Tromp proposed to sail up the 
Thames, but lack of pilots and the difficulty of the 
navigation prevented the execution of the daring 
scheme. 

Tromp was master of the narrow sea. He had 
swept the Channel of his foes, and for ten weeks 
he scoured the waters from east to west. No 
British fleet could leave the shelter of its harbor. 
According to British writers, Tromp mounted a 
broom at his masthead as a token that he had 
cleared the seas of his enemies, and as he rode the 
Channel through the stormy winter months his 
broom rode with him for a challenge. But none 
disputed his sovereignty. 

Tromp's great victory was the signal to Dutch 
privateers. Over a hundred letters of marque 
were issued within a week, and every sea town was 
restless with activity. Rich spoils were brought 



SWEEPING THE NARROW SEAS 67 

in ; hundreds of British trading coasters and fish- 
ing boats were captured, and extensive injury done 
to British commerce. 

In the flush of success, and divided by political 
dissensions at home, the Dutch committed their 
great blunder. During the long winter months, 
while their admiral was cruising in the Channel 
and keeping the British in check, he was left with- 
out reenforcements, without fresh supplies of food 
or ammunition. In the meanwhile Great Britain 
had been active in building and equipping a new 
and powerful fleet. And Tromp, short of provi- 
sions, of powder, and of shot, was obliged to struggle 
against the new, well-stored ships, and the fresh 
crews of his enemies. 

Toward the close of February he was convoying 
on their homebound voyage a fleet of a hundred 
and fifty merchantmen. A square of four Dutch 
squadrons enclosed the richly laden ships from the 
East, two hundred and twenty vessels in all, a 
crowd of masts and rigging covering the waters to 
the horizon. Blake and Deane in command of 
their new fleet, and Monk with his squadron, lay 
in waiting off Portland. 

Tromp called his captains on board the flag-ship, 
held a council of war, and planned the attack; 
then he made the signal to prepare for battle. 
With silent guns the Dutch fleet advanced upon 
the British line under a brisk cannonading, and 
not until the Brederode was within musket range 



68 ADMIRAL TROMP 

of the British admiral's ship did Tromp speak. 
His message was a broadside poured into the Tri- 
umph. Then he doubled on himself and, returning, 
discharged a second broadside, and wheeling once 
again he poured a third broadside into the Triumph'' s 
other side. 

The battle had started with fury, and, from eight 
o'clock on the morning of the 28th until darkness 
fell, the combatants fought heroically and desper- 
ately. In twos and threes and fours the vessels 
lay together in deadly conflict. When night 
separated the enemies, the Dutch had not lost a 
ship, the merchant fleet was safe, and the long 
half-moon line of battle was still unbroken. The 
night was spent in repairing damages. 

On the following morning, still drifting north- 
ward, the rival fleets again began the fight, six 
leagues off Dungeness. Tromp had won a free 
road to the coast of Holland, and the merchant 
fleet, protected by the great half-circle of battle- 
ships, was slowly gaining on its homeward run. 
Tromp now kept on the defensive. His ammuni- 
tion was running low, and his sole object was to 
carry his charge to a safe haven. Time after time 
Blake tried to break through the solid line, and time 
after time he failed. The second night fell, and 
still the Dutch were drifting home. But the dam- 
age had been fearful. Rigging had been demolished, 
hulls riddled with shot, and many of the ships were 
scarcely able to keep afloat. 



SWEEPING THE NARROW SEAS 69 

When the morning of the 2d of March dawned 
the enemies were off Beveziers, and the attack 
began for the third and last time. Charge and 
resistance went on with gallant courage and en- 
durance on both sides, until finally at the last 
attack only thirty of Tromp's ships could return. 
But even at the last hour, when hardly a shot was 
left, and every vessel was disabled, the Dutch line 
was kept unbroken. At five o'clock in the after- 
noon Blake ceased firing and gave up the pursuit. 

Three days later Tromp sailed into the Meuse. 
Nine of his men-of-war had been burnt or cap- 
tured, some of the merchant vessels were missing, 
and the rest of his fleet was almost completely 
shattered; but he had brought a hundred and 
twenty-five of the merchantmen to safe anchor- 
age, and if the great three -days' battle was a de- 
feat, it was a glorious defeat — one that brought 
out Tromp's superb heroism, his power of organ- 
ization, knowledge of tactics, judgment, and cool 
courage. His country acknowledged his heroism, 
and the States-General presented him with a 
special gift. 

But a series of defeats followed in the train of 
Tromp's magnificent retreat. The chief causes of 
these reverses lay back of the navy. The govern- 
ment was short of money, and this lack showed 
itself in a want of men, provisions, ammunition — 
everything that went to make a well-equipped 
fleet. These defeats were made less humiliating 



70 ADMIRAL TROMP 



1 



by the genius of its grand leader, but the skill of 
one man could not win battles without tools. 

The British navy had the advantage of well- 
built ships, and the press-gang to replenish its 
crews ; it had also the advantage of a rich, pros- 
perous, united nation at its back. It was un- 
hampered in its movements ; it had no large 
merchant armadas to protect on their perilous 
outbound and homebound voyages. With such 
advantages it gained, step by step and inevitably, 
those victories which the Dutch disputed with 
unconquerable spirit and heroism. 

By the middle of May a British fleet was sail- 
ing in the Texel, harassing and alarming the coast 
of Holland and Zealand, and capturing Dutch 
trading vessels that ventured too far out to sea. 
Tromp in the meanwhile had sailed to the north- 
ern seas with a hundred ships, convoying the out- 
going merchant fleet on its roundabout voyage to 
Spain and the East. In the Scottish waters he 
waited for the heavily laden, incoming merchant- 
men, and escorted them on their homeward way. 
But news reached him that Monk and Deane at the 
head of a powerful fleet of a hundred and five sail, 
and Blake with a squadron of twenty ships, were 
looking for him near the Texel. 

The two great fleets sighted each other off Nieu- 
port on the Flemish coast, on a day early in June. 
The fight opened before Blake had joined the 
main fleet, but on both sides figured some of the 



SWEEPING THE NARROW SEAS 71 

foremost seamen of the day. Among the Dutch 
were Tromp, De Ruyter, De With, and Evertsen, 
the greatest of Holland's sea fighters; among the 
British were Monk, Deane, Penn, and Lawson. 

The heavy-calibred British men-of-war bore 
down upon the Dutch in a solid half-moon battle 
front, and slowly but persistently forced them to 
retire. The wind was against Tromp and pre- 
vented him from coming to a short-range distance 
and boarding the enemy's ships — his only chance 
of success. With unflagging determination on 
one side, and stubborn resistance on the other, 
the battle was waged from morning until after 
darkness had enveloped the opposing fleets. Not 
until nine o'clock did the firing cease. 

On the following morning Blake plunged sud- 
denly into the heart of the fight to reenforce the 
British line, and at the same moment the Dutch 
made the terrible discovery that they had scarcely 
any ammunition left. Tromp was determined to 
die hard. Placing all his hope in a last daring 
effort, he manoeuvred skilfully so as to get the 
weather-gage, and ran the Brederode alongside 
Penn's vice-admiral, poured broadside after broad- 
side into him, and carried his quarter-deck. But 
his men were repulsed, and after a terrific struggle 
the British succeeded in boarding the Brederode. 

Tromp was resolved not to be taken alive. He 
ordered two barrels of gunpowder to be placed on 
the upper deck and set on fire. With a fearful 



72 ADMIRAL TROMP 



explosion the whole of the upper part of the ship 
was blown up, destroying Penn's men along with 
it, and the shattered and burning fragments of 
spars and deck fell on all sides into the water. 
The sudden catastrophe threw both fleets into 
confusion. By a wonderful chance Tromp escaped 
with his life ; and seeing that the day was com- 
pletely lost, that not a shot was left, and that the 
greater part of his vessels were either captured or 
disabled, he ordered a retreat to the coast of 
Zealand, where he took refuge behind the sand- 
banks of the Wielingen. 

This signal defeat was fatal to Dutch shipping 
interests. Every port on the coast of Holland and 
Zealand was completely blockaded. Commerce 
was stopped. Not a fishing smack or merchant 
vessel could stir out of harbor. And this at the 
height of the trade season. 

The high-mighty lords at the Hague at last 
awoke to the gravity of the situation, and listened 
to the oft-repeated and indignant protests of their 
admirals, who were forced to bear the brunt and 
suffer the results of the government's negligence. 
Heavier ships, heavier guns, more men, more pow- 
der — these were the constant demands. "There 
are more than fifty ships in the English fleet, the 
least of which is better than the best Dutch ship " 
— this was what Tromp told the States-General. 

But if any improvement was to be the result 
of these strong appeals and remonstrances, Tromp 



SWEEPING THE NARROW SEAS 78 

was not destined to reap the benefit of it. There 
was no time to finish the sixty great ships of war 
which the States-General had at last ordered to 
be built. The British were blockading the coast, 
and Blake carried a broom at his masthead in 
the very face of Holland. 

With incredible speed a new fleet was collected. 
It was composed of the same old material, small 
merchant ships bought from trading companies, 
from private merchants, and even from foreign 
countries ; the crews were raw and untrained. 
Within a few weeks of his last defeat, Tromp ran 
out of the Meuse at the head of a fleet of ninety 
vessels, to fight the last battle of the war and the 
last of his life. His old and feeble mother had 
come on board to bid him farewell, and turning 
to the sailors she begged them to stand by her 
son to the last. Answering with a ringing cheer, 
they declared that they would never surrender to 
the enemy. 

Sailing out of the Wielings on the 4th of 
August, 1653, Tromp turned northward in search 
of Monk's fleet, which for more than six weeks 
had been threatening the coast. In four days he 
sighted the British admiral off the Texel. Behind 
the Texel lay Vice-admiral De With, with 
twenty-seven ships under his command, waiting 
to run out and join his chief, but now effectually 
blockaded by the enemy. 

Tromp at once turned seaward in feigned retreat, 



74 ADMIRAL TROMP 

and luring Monk after him, kept up a continual fire 
at long range. The cannonading lasted all day 
with little damage to either fleet, but Tromp's 
stratagem had succeeded. Monk was deceived 
and drawn out to sea ; De With slipped out of the 
Texel during the night, and on the following after- 
noon brought his squadron into action. 

On the morning of Sunday, the 10th of August, 
the battle began at close quarters. Monk had 
ordered his fleet to neither give nor take quarter. 
The collision was fearful. Early in the day, while 
Tromp was giving orders and watching through a 
hand telescope the movements of the different 
squadrons, a musket ball pierced him to the heart. 
As he fell to the deck he cried to his men, " Be of 
good courage ! " and died almost at once. 

The death of their great admiral was kept a 
secret to all but a few, and his flag flew from his 
masthead throughout the battle. With gallant 
courage the Dutch disputed every inch of the sea- 
way back to the Texel, and together the fleets 
drifted toward the coast. Crowds of spectators 
watched the stubborn struggle from the sand 
downs of Holland. 

In the early afternoon twenty-four of the Dutch 
ships turned traitors and retreated. Almost every 
battle of late had seen cowards and traitors de- 
serting their commanders and spreading sail for 
home. They were usually Zealanders. Political 
distrust and dissensions, combined with the jeal- 



I 



SWEEPING THE NARROW SEAS 75 



ousy of the different admiralties of the States, 
produced disunion and rivalry in the navy. 

De With was left with only thirty ships, and 
the battle, which had begun at half-past six in the 
morning, and had been raging for more than eight 
hours, finally ended in his retreat to the Texel. 
The British had gained the victory, but the Dutch 
had broken the blockade. Monk retired to the 
Thames, and several months later peace was con- 
cluded. The advantage to the Dutch had been 
dearly bought by the death of their noble com- 
mander. 

On Tromp's magnificent tomb, raised by the 
States-General at Delft, were inscribed the words : 
" He left to posterity a grand example of mastery 
in naval warfare, of fidelity to the State, of pru- 
dence, of courage, of intrepidity, and of immovable 
firmness." 



1 



ADMIRAL MICHAEL ADRIAANS- 
ZOON DE EUYTEE 

1607-1676 



1 



ADMIRAL MICHAEL ADRIAANS- 
ZOON DE RUYTEE 

CHAPTER VIII 

HOLLAND'S FAMOUS SEA KING 

No one has better represented the sea-power of 
the United Netherlands than De Ruyter — the 
greatest and most renowned of her admirals, the 
chief of her valiant sea fighters. No one has more 
gloriously maintained on high or narrow seas the 
honor of the Dutch flag, or shed more lustre on 
the Dutch navy. Carrying the work of his prede- 
cessor, Martin Tromp, to its fullest completion, he 
won for his country during a short but brilliant 
period that naval supremacy which has at all times 
been the aim of every maritime nation. 

Beside being the chief representative of Dutch 
seamen, De Ruyter was also the embodiment of 
the national Dutch character. He was one of the 
few almost perfect examples that history records 
of republican simplicity of mind, unassailable 
integrity, truth, and disinterestedness. He was 

79 



80 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

the type of an ideal democrat. A hero witliout 
petty weaknesses, without personal ambition or 
self-interest, witliout vanity, and incapable of 
meanness, he devoted his life with singleness 
of zeal and purpose to a country not always grate- 
ful, but one that held his unchanging love and 
ardent patriotism. 

Born under a republic, he was in every way a 
self-made and a self-educated man. By his wisdom, 
intrepid courage, natural ability, and self-taught 
skill he rose from the rank and file to the high- 
est naval command in his country. The foremost 
seaman of his century, he owed everything to 
merit and to his individual efforts. He was the 
moulder of his own career. 

Michael Adriaanszoon de Ruyter was born in 
1607, in the busy seaport town of Flushing, a cen- 
tre of trade and shipping interests. In the 
harbor of the little Zealand town, behind the 
sand-banks of Walcherin, at one of the mouths 
of the river Scheldt, the rich merchant fleets from 
the Baltic and the Indies came to anchor and to 
unload their cargoes. A forest of masts covered 
the water, and on the quay all was stir and activity. 

This was De Ruyter's first playground. His 
taste for the sea came to him by natural affinity 
rather than by inheritance. His parents were 
plain working people, his father being a brewer's 
journeyman. Little Michael, when only ten years 
old, was placed in a rope-walk where he earned a 



HOLLAND'S FAMOUS SEA KING 81 

penny a day. But so dull and tedious a life was 
little suited to the active, danger-loving tempera- 
ment of the future admiral. His turbulent ways 
and love of adventure exasperated his father and 
filled the steady inhabitants of Flushing with dis- 
may. There seemed to be no outlet on land for 
his energies, and as a last resource his father sent 
him to sea at the age of eleven as ship-boy to a 
boatswain's mate. From that moment his life was 
as varied as he could desire. 

The change to a profession that he loved, and 
that suited his natural tastes, seemed to act as a 
steadying influence. His character became from 
that moment more settled and reliable, and devel- 
oped rapidly, so that we find him early filling 
positions of trust and responsibility. When he 
was fifteen he was promoted to the rank of gunner, 
and distinguished himself for his coolness and 
daring. In an encounter between his ship and a 
Spanish privateer, while he was still a common 
sailor, he was the first to board the enemy's vessel, 
and was wounded and taken prisoner. On reach- 
ing land he made his escape, and tramped across 
Europe, from Spain to Zealand, begging his bread 
as he went. He reached Flushing weak, ragged, 
and starving. 

His reputation for audacity and intelligence soon 
brought him a new position. He was made pilot 
on a merchantman when he was twenty-two, and 
ten years later was captain of his own vessel. His 



82 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

advance from ship-boy, through the various grades 
of boatswain, mate, to captain, had been slow and 
gradual. But these years were rich in experience. 
He had learned, step by step, the sailor's profes- 
sion. And this knowledge, won at first hand, was 
a tremendous source of power to him in after years. 
It gave him the ability, when he was called to 
guide the destiny of the Dutch navy, to command 
and direct his followers, from the captain to the 
seaman aloft, in the minutest details of their 
service. 

Stories of his practical maritime knowledge, his 
wide experience in navigation, and his capacity as 
a commander at last reached the ears of the gov- 
ernment. In 1641 he received his commission as 
captain, and was later made rear-admiral of the 
fleet sent by the Netherlands to the assistance of 
the Portuguese against the Spaniards. 

Although his destiny was, in later years, to lead 
him constantly into the very heat of battle, and he 
was to fight for his country in fifty-five engage- 
ments, he had a natural aversion for war and blood- 
shed. After the close of the Portuguese campaign, 
he went back to the merchant marine and carried on 
independent trading. It was on one of his return 
voyages from Irish ports, when he was bringing 
home a large and valuable cargo of butter, that he 
played his notorious trick on a Dunkirk pirate. 

A fierce November storm was raging in the Chan- 
nel, and he had anchored near the Isle of Wight 



HOLLAND'S FAMOUS SEA KING 83 

to wait for favorable winds and calmer waters. 
The pirate craft were swarming in the narrow sea, 
ready to dart upon any small and lightly armed 
trader that happened to come in sight. The gale 
still continued, but De Ruyter was impatient, and 
slipping out of harbor, thought to venture a home 
run to Zealand in defiance of storms and bucca- 
neers. 

Scarcely had he left shelter when he saw a Dun- 
kirker bearing down on him full sail, and at a speed 
that made escape impossible. Capture and the 
loss of his cargo seemed certain. But here his 
ingenuity came to his aid. Ordering his sailors 
to bring up several barrels of butter, he had the 
deck and every rope and spar greased and smeared. 
This done he waited calmly for the approach of 
the corsair ship, and offered no resistance as the 
pirates came to close quarters and impetuously 
started to board the undefended merchantman. 

Great was their amazement to find themselves 
reeling and staggering as soon as their feet touched 
the trader's deck. Not a man could keep his foot- 
ing. They stumbled and fell prostrate in every 
direction. Seized with superstitious fear, the ter- 
rified pirates fled precipitately from the bewitched 
ship, and left De Ruyter to sail peacefully home- 
ward with his rich cargo packed safely away in the 
hold. 

Until he was forty-five, De Ruyter continued as 
a successful trader. He amassed a large fortune, 



84 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

built a house in Amsterdam, and was in every way 
a respectable, highly esteemed burgher. Having 
satisfied his love of adventure, he decided to retire 
from business, and to live a quiet, domestic life, 
cultivating his garden and enjoying a restful mid- 
dle age. For one year he fulfilled his dream, little 
thinking what a life of strenuous exertion and 
heavy responsibility still lay before him. 

In 1652 the first war with Great Britain broke out. 
Although De Ruyter had not been trained for the 
navy. Grand-pensionary De Witt, the chief execu- 
tive of the Netherlands, was not ignorant of the 
ability and skill of the former trader. An order 
from the Hague called him to the seat of govern- 
ment to receive his commission as rear-admiral of 
the second fleet, under the chief command of Lieu- 
tenant-admiral Tromp. 

De Ruyter did not long hesitate. His country 
needed his services. From that moment he re- 
signed all claim upon his own life, and devoted 
himself until his death to the faithful fulfilment of 
his duty to the state. Sacrificing with simple 
heroism and manliness his personal desires and 
tastes, he thenceforth knew no other incentive and 
inspiration to high resolve and glorious achieve- 
ment than love of his God and his country. 

Given the command of a squadron during Tromp's 
temporary disgrace, he gained a brilliant victory 
over Sir George Ayscue, near Plymouth. The 
Dutch rear-admiral, with only thirty ships of war 



HOLLAND'S FAMOUS SEA KING 85 

and six fire-ships, was escorting a fleet of sixty 
merchantmen through the Channel, keeping close 
to the shores of Sussex. The greater number of 
his ships were small and armed with less than 
thirty guns, the heaviest among them carrying 
only forty. 

Hampered by the merchantmen, De Ruyter met, 
on the 26th of August, the British fleet of forty 
ships and five fire-ships under the command of 
Ayscue. Twelve of the enemy's ships were large 
and carried sixty guns. After a sharp engagement, 
which lasted many hours against heavy odds, De 
Ruyter carried the day and forced Ayscue to re- 
treat to Plymouth Sound. All through the night 
the Dutch admiral kept his position, hoping to 
renew the fight on the following day ; but when 
morning dawned, the British vessels were nowhere 
to be seen. 

During the rest of the war with Great Britain, and 
until peace was concluded, De Ruyter, at the head 
of the squadron of Zealand, took part in almost 
every engagement off the English and Dutch 
coasts, both under Vice-admiral De With and 
under Tromp. After the death of Tromp he was 
appointed vice-admiral of Holland, second only in 
command to Lieutenant-admiral Obdam van Was- 
senar, who had succeeded to the highest position 
in the navy. 

Quiet having been restored to the northern 
waters, De Ruyter was sent with his squadron to 



86 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 



'iSiB 



the Mediterranean to protect Dutch trade against 
the depredations of the Algerine pirates. The 
commerce of Holland, after the ravages it had suf- 
fered during the late war, needed every defence 
and protection of its interests. Sailing to the Bar- 
bary states, on the coast of Africa, De Ruyter 
spread terror along the shores of Algeria, overran 
Morocco, threatened Tunis, and captured many 
pirate vessels on the way. But the Barbary Cor- 
sairs were not the only sea wolves that threatened 
the security of Dutch navigation. For years past 
French privateers had been making reprisals 
on the merchant ships of the United Provinces, 
and had seized more than three hundred Dutch 
trading vessels. France had leagued herself with 
Great Britain to ruin the commerce of Holland, 
and had let loose her pirate-privateers on her rival 
in trade. 

While sweeping the Mediterranean of Moorish 
galleots, De Ruyter sighted two French privateers 
off Corsica. They were commanded by the noto- 
rious pirate De la Lande, who had more than once 
looted Dutch ships of their rich cargoes. As soon 
as he descried the French flag of the privateers, 
De Ruyter gave hot chase. Hours passed, and 
still the exciting pursuit went on, the Dutch ply- 
ing their cannon on the fugitives. The swift-sail- 
ing vessels of the Hollanders gained little by little 
on the privateers, and the distance gradually short- 
ened between them. At last the Frenchmen were 



HOLLAND'S FAMOUS SEA KING 87 

boarded, and then carried to Barcelona, where the 
ships were sold, and the crews landed on Spanish 
soil. 

Bursting with rage, Cardinal Mazarin sent vehe- 
ment protestations to the Dutch government. An 
ambassador was despatched to the Hague demand- 
ing instant reparation for the conduct of De Ruyter, 
and restoration of the captured ships. For all an- 
swer, the States presented their energetic admiral 
with a magnificent gift and congratulated him on 
his prompt action. 

In 1658 war broke out between Sweden and 
Denmark, and the Dutch found themselves involved 
in protecting the interests of the Danes in the Bal- 
tic, and helping them to defend their shores against 
the encroachments of their northern neighbors. A 
fleet of thirty-seven war-ships, under Admiral Ob- 
dam, was sent to raise the siege of Copenhagen, and 
to blockade the Swedish fleet in the harbor of 
Landscroon. The successes of the Dutch fired 
the British to prepare an armament to assist the 
king of Sweden against the allies, but Britain's 
new move only served as a fresh incentive to the 
government at the Hague. 

Through the cold winter months, when the 
ground was covered with ice, and hostilities Avere 
suspended, the dockyards of Holland were teeming 
with activity. New ships were built on improved 
models, crews were carefully picked and trained, 
and by the 20th of May, 1659, a small but well- 



88 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

equipped fleet of forty ships of war and a land 
army of four thousand men sailed out of the 
Meuse and headed for the Baltic. 

Admiral Obdam had retired, and De Ruyter was 
appointed commander-in-chief, with full power to 
act with vigor. Several months, the best of the 
summer, were lost in attempted negotiations, and 
the autumn had set in before hostilities recom- 
menced. It was not until the early days of No- 
vember that De Ruyter finally sailed to Funen, an 
island off Denmark which had fallen into the hands 
of Charles Gustavus, king of Sweden. Intrenched 
within the strongly fortified city of Nybourg, one 
of the foremost fortresses of northern Europe and 
considered almost impregnable, the Swedes were 
confident of holding their position. The Danish- 
Dutch allies, equally determined to carry this 
stronghold, brought stratagem to the aid of 
force. 

At the head of a fleet that had been increased to 
seventy-five war-ships, De Ruyter appeared before 
Nj^bourg, and under cover of the night sent out a 
large number of boats, each carrying only a few 
men, to feign an attempt at landing. Entirely 
misled by this ruse, the Swedes collected their 
whole army at the threatened point. De Ruyter 
then slipped quietly away, and sailed thirty miles 
up the coast to Kartemunde, a small and poorly 
garrisoned town. A brisk cannonading, a swift 
attack in the boats, and a landing under heavy 



1 



HOLLAND'S FAMOUS SEA KING 89 

fire forced the Swedish soldiers back into the 
town. After a few hours' bombardment the town 
itself was abandoned, and the troops retreated in 
confusion. 

The entire Danish-Dutch army was then landed 
and began the cross-country march to Nybourg, 
while the fleet sailed back to blockade the harbor. 
On the side toward the land, Nybourg was de- 
fended by a well-fortified eminence. There the 
Swedish troops, renowned for their bravery since 
the time of Gustavus Adolphus, took up their posi- 
tion. Again and again the Danish-Dutch troops 
attacked the Swedes, intrenched behind their 
earthworks ; time after time the allies were forced 
to retreat. But after many hours of obstinate 
fighting, and mainly through the valor and ability 
of the Dutch, the besieged were finally driven back, 
in hopeless confusion, within the gates. 

At the same time De Ruyter's fleet, which had 
been stationed so as to surround the city on three 
sides, opened a heavy and destructive fire. The 
terrified people and the panic-stricken soldiers tried 
in vain to defend themselves against the incessant 
cannonading ; they were soon forced to make un- 
conditional surrender of the city. 

This signal victory, the blockade by De Ruyter 
of the Swedish fleet in the harbor of Landscroon, 
and the submission of Funen to the Danes, ended 
the war, and a treaty was soon afterward con- 
cluded between Denmark and Sweden. The 



90 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

grateful king of Denmark, as a recognition of 
De Ruyter's services, raised him to the peerage, 
and the Dutch admiral, who had been the means 
of establishing peace in northern waters, returned 
to his home in Holland, hoping to enjoy a short 
period of rest at his own fireside. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE TRIUMPH OF THE DUTCH NAVY 

Peace did not last long, and four years after the 
close of the Danish campaign Holland found her- 
self again involved in a war with Great Britain. 
De Ruyter was destined to lead his fleets through 
a long succession of brilliant engagements, which 
raised the Dutch navy to the highest pinnacle of 
glory and renown, only to end at his death in its 
almost total eclipse. 

Rivalry in trade was once more the cause of 
rupture. For the past ten years anger and resent- 
ment had been fostered and nourished among both 
peoples. Injuries committed by both nations to 
the merchants and the commerce of their rival 
ended in a series of reprisals which increased ill 
feeling, and hastened open hostilities. It was 
chiefly through the English and Dutch West 
India Companies that these harassing reprisals 
were carried on. 

Along the coast of Africa the Dutch had estab- 
lished a number of successful trading centres and 
factories. A British squadron under Sir Robert 
Holmes was despatched by the West India Com- 

91 



92 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

pany on a privateering expedition to the coast of 
Guinea, and the unprotected Dutch settlements 
fell an easy prey to this unexpected assault. The 
British captured a number of ships, stormed 
several Dutch forts, reduced two strongholds on 
the island of Goree, and carried the fort of Cape 
Corse. 

Sir Robert Holmes then sailed to North America, 
where the Dutch had long been established in their 
colony of New Netherlands, and appeared suddenly 
before New Amsterdam, the capital of the settle- 
ment. Poorly fortified and wholly unprepared for 
the attack, the city immediately surrendered, and 
the British easily took possession of the entire 
colony. The territory was granted to the Duke 
of York, who was director-in-chief of the English 
West India Company, and the name of the county 
and city was changed to New York. Thus, with 
scarcely a blow, the British completed their con- 
quest of the entire American seaboard, and effected 
a momentous change in American history. 

After a futile attempt to ward off hostilities, and 
conciliate the king of Great Britain, the Dutch took 
active measures to protect their commerce. De 
Ruyter, who was cruising with his fleet in the 
Mediterranean, holding the Moorish pirates in 
check, received secret instructions to sail for the 
coast of Africa and recapture the forts that had 
fallen into the hands of the British. After sev- 
eral weeks spent in taking in water and provisions, 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE DUTCH NAVY 



and in eluding the British admiral, Lawson, who 
was also sailing up and down the narrow sea and 
keeping a watchful eye upon the fleet of the 
Netherlands, De Ruyter at last succeeded in slip- 
ping away unnoticed and heading for the Cape of 
Good Hope. 

The island of Goree, the forts of Cape Verd, 
Orange, and Nassau, Tokorari and St. George, 
were retaken. The strongly fortified and almost 
inaccessible fort of Coromantyn was stormed and 
carried, and many British merchantmen with their 
rich cargoes fell into the hands of the Dutch. 

Open rupture with Great Britain was now in- 
evitable. The British government had in fact 
been active in its preparations for war. Vigorous 
measures were taken to equip a powerful fleet, 
which was placed under the command of the Duke 
of York, and the oflicial declaration of war was 
hastened by the capture of a hundred and thirty 
Dutch merchantmen laden with French produce. ^ 
The Netherlands, entirely isolated in their politi- 
cal relations, left to rely wholly upon their own 
resources against an opponent vastly their superior 
in strength, strained every sinew of their republic 
to make ready for the coming struggle. Their 
preparations were swift and vigorous. 

The fisheries were interrupted, all the whale and 
herring smacks were reserved for use in the navy, 
the East India Company provided twenty men-of- 
war at their own cost, letters of marque were 



94 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

granted, a heavy subsidy was voted by the States- 
General, towns on the seaboard were fortified, 
and the equipment of the fleet was carried on with 
speed and activity. Early in March, 1665, when 
the formal declaration of war, sent by the king of 
Great Britain, arrived at the Hague, a hundred and 
three war vessels, and over sixty smaller craft 
and fire-ships, lay within the Meuse and the Texel, 
and twenty-two thousand men stood ready to de- 
fend their flag. 

The first battle of the war, fought while Da 
Ruyter was still in distant seas, ended in a defeat 
to the arms of the Netherlands. On the 13th of 
June, 1665, the rival fleets met near Loestoffe, in 
Suffolk. The British ships numbered a hundred 
and sixteen, led by the Duke of York, Prince Ru- 
pert, and Montague, and Vice-admirals Lawson, 
Mengs, and Ayscue — a formidable array of ships 
and commanders. Admiral Obdam van Wassenar 
was at the head of the Dutch fleet. 

The battle, which from all accounts seems to 
have been one of extraordinary fury and of sur- 
prising lack of order on the part of the Dutch, 
lasted from early dawn until sunset. The British 
had the weather-gage, but the advantage on both 
sides seemed to be about equal throughout the 
morning. Toward one o'clock the British blue 
squadron broke through the enem3^'s line, and 
soon after Admiral Obdam's ship, which was in 
close conflict with the British admiral, blew up 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE DUTCH NAVY 95 

with a terrific explosion. All on board perished. 
Thrown into confusion, the Dutch fleet retreated 
to shelter along the coast of Holland. 

This was the news that greeted De Ruyter on 
his arrival. Already rumors had reached him 
during his home voyage that war had broken out, 
and that a British fleet lay waiting to intercept 
him on his return. By making a long sweep 
northward near Iceland and Norway, and favored 
by a dense fog, he ran into the Ems undetected, 
and anchored before the fort of Delfzyl, in the 
early days of August. 

The news of his return spread rapidly through- 
out the country and was received with demonstra- 
tions of joy and thanksgiving. Feeling that he 
alone could retrieve the great calamity that had 
befallen them, the people acclaimed him as their 
destined saviour. Although the entire nation had 
been overwhelmed with consternation at the first 
reverse of the war, the States had not been idle, 
and De Ruyter found a fleet of ninety-three war- 
ships ready to put to sea. 

He was immediately appointed lieutenant- 
admiral-general, and two weeks after his return 
was formally installed as commander-in-chief of 
the fleets. On a day late in August he ran out 
of the Texel and steered for Bergen, a port in 
Norway, where a rich merchant fleet, with stores 
from the East Indies and Smyrna, lay waiting for 
a protecting escort to home ports. 



96 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

The junction successfully made, the immense 
fleet turned southward ; but it had hardly left port 
when it was overtaken by a storm of terrific fur}^ 
For days the ships were hurled over the waves, 
scattered, and tossed hither and thither. Many 
ships were lost and others severely damaged. 
With this second failure the naval year closed, 
and the ships returned to harbor for the winter. 

The second year of the war opened more brill- 
iantly. The eight fall and winter months had 
been spent at the dockyards in building and 
equipping a new fleet. On a day late in May, De 
Ruyter ran out of the Texel in his flag-ship the 
Seven Provinces^ at the head of a hundred sail, 
which were armed with five thousand guns and 
carried twenty-two thousand men. Beside these, 
there were fire-ships and smaller craft. The fleet 
was divided into three squadrons : one commanded 
by Evertsen, another by Cornells Tromp, and the 
third by De Ruyter himself. It was a gallant 
array. 

The men were filled with hope and determina- 
tion, for the Dutch never fought more valiantly 
than after defeat. Yet they little dreamed, when 
they made all sail, that they were setting out 
to fight one of the most furious and prolonged 
actions recorded in naval history — a battle that 
for splendid courage, endurance, and resolute deter- 
mination has scarcely been surpassed. It was the 
heroic four-days' struggle against the British fleet 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE DUTCH NAVY 97 

of eighty-one large men-of-war under the command 
of Prince Rupert, Monk, and Ayscue. 

At the North Foreland De Ruyter fell in with 
the enemy bearing down full sail under a stiff 
breeze. The meeting was terrible. The front 
squadrons on both sides mingled at once in fierce 
combat, and the contest was obstinately continued 
until evening. Three British vessels were captured, 
two Dutch men-of-war were blown up, and Tromp's 
flag-ship became helpless. 

The next morning the fight was renewed. Again 
and again Monk attacked his enemy; time after 
time De Ruyter charged the British fleet. Each 
side gained some advantage, but the slender Brit- 
ish frigates, loaded with guns, began to roll and 
lurch in the heavy sea, while the larger vessels of 
the Dutch kept steadier decks. Broadside followed 
broadside with undiminished fury from early dawn 
till eight o'clock at night. At the close of this 
second day three successive fire-ships were sent 
by Evertsen against Sir John Harman, rear-admiral 
of one of the British squadrons, who displayed the 
most splendid bravery in saving his vessel. 

On the third day Prince Rupert joined Monk, 
with a squadron of twenty battle-ships, and again 
the struggle was renewed. But even with this 
additional force the British found that De Ruyter 
was too strong for them. Each side had lost about 
twenty vessels ; the men had been reduced by sick- 
ness, wounds, and death ; yet each day the fury on 



98 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

both sides increased. An eye-witness declared that 
such dogged courage and endurance had never been 
seen. 

At daybreak, on the fourth day, was begun a 
combat more fearful than on any of the preceding 
days. Finally, toward the close of the afternoon, 
De Ruyter hoisted a red flag as the signal for a 
general attack — an order carried out with so much 
vigor that the British began to waver. And when 
the fourth day closed, the whole Dutch fleet was 
sailing in pursuit of the enemy. " This fourth day," ■ 
says Vice-admiral Jordan, " at seven at night, most 
of our great ships disabled in masts, yards, rigging, 
the want of men to ply our guns, and powder and 
shot nearly all spent, forced our retreat." Then 
a fog spread over the water, and when the fifth 
day dawned, not a British vessel was to be seen 
from the Dutch mastheads, and De Ruyter as- 
sembled his fleet and returned home. The stub- 
born courage and the spirit shown on both sides 
turned every man into a hero, and this engagement 
stands out as the most noted of Holland's naval 
battles, one in a long chain of contests upon the 
sea. 

The splendid victory of the Dutch, while it 
crippled and shattered their fleet, and cost them j 
the life of their brave Vice-admiral Evertsen, ' 
opened the new campaign with brilliant promise 
of success. In nineteen days after the return of 
the damaged remnants of the Dutch fleet De Ruy- 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE DUTCH NAVY 99 



ter again set sail for the Downs with eighty-eight 
ships of war and a large army of men. 

The project to land a Dutch army on the shores 
of England having failed from want of pilots and 
the absence of buoys and beacons, De Ruyter 
spent a month in cruising along the coast. The 
British, meanwhile, were actively equipping a 
new fleet, and early in August Monk ran out of 
the Thames with ninety men-of-war under his 
command. Near the North Foreland he sighted 
the enemy, and anchoring off Norfolk's Land, 
within two miles of the Dutch, waited for the 
dawn to begin the battle. 

The British had many advantages over their 
enemy. Their heavy ships and long-range guns 
gave them decided superiority. They were be- 
sides masters in the art of presenting a splendid 
and solid battle array. The Dutch fleet lacked 
unity of action. The separate squadrons, each 
representing a different province, and sent out by 
a different admiralty, often acted independently 
of one another, and their leaders ignored the sig- 
nals made by the commander-in-chief. In the 
heat of action the rivalries and jealousies between 
the squadrons of Holland, Zealand, and Friesland 
overcame even the sense of duty and the love of 
country. Nowhere were the defects of this naval 
system more strongly brought out or more fatal 
than in the battle of the 4th of August, 1666. 

In the clear morning air, before the sun had 

LofC. 



100 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

risen, the two lines of war-ships, stretching out 
like vast wings over the water, advanced upon 
each other. De Ruyter's fleet was divided into 
three squadrons: the van commanded by John 
Evertsen, the centre by De Ruyter himself, and 
the rear by Cornells Tromp. 

The squadrons of Zealand and Friesland, which 
composed the van, were the first to begin the 
engagement, and advanced with overimpetuosity 
upon the enemy. They were soon separated from 
the rest of the fleet, and exposed to a galling fire. 
John Evertsen, whose father, four brothers, and 
one son had already perished in the service of 
their country, was shot during the early part of 
the engagement, and died soon after. His vice- 
admirals, Hiddes de Vries and Koenders, were also 
killed at the outset. Filled with dismay at the 
loss of their leaders, the squadrons fell into hope- 
less confusion; the crews mutinied, and the officers 
beat an ignominious retreat. 

Meanwhile the impetuous Tromp had engaged 
the British rear under Sir Jeremy Smith, and 
after a brisk encounter had allowed himself to 
be duped into pursuing his antagonist who had 
feigned a retreat. His separation from the rest 
of the fleet left the centre under De Ruyter to 
bear the full fury of the British fire, and, while 
Tromp displayed great personal bravery, his fail- 
ure to support his chief was the main cause of the 
defeat. 



'^' 




-^w^ 




THE TRIUMPH OF THE DUTCH NAVY 101 



Left with only eight ships to fight two squadrons 
of the enemy, De Ruyter defended himself with 
incredible valor throughout the entire day. Under 
the terrible fire of twenty-two British ships, his 
own vessels suffered fearful damage. When night 
fell, the Dutch admiral still held his position, hop- 
ing' that morning would bring Tromp and the van 
in^'answer to his signals. But when the light 
dawned there was still not a friendly sail to be 
seen on the wide stretch of water. 

Abandoned by the rest of his fleet, De Ruyter 
with only seven ships was again exposed to the 
full fury of the enemy's murderous fire. The 
British had ranged themselves in a half-moon, 
surrounding De Ruyter on three sides, and Monk, 
confident of capturing his great rival, pursued him 
with relentless obstinacy. First a fire-ship was 
sent against the Seven Provinces, which De Ruyter 
evaded only by his marvellous promptness and 
skin. Then a simultaneous and terrible broad- 
side from three of the British vessels made the 
Dutch flag-ship reel and tremble. Every device 
that the British admiral's ingenuity and hatred 
could invent was used against his almost helpless 

antagonist. 

For one moment De Ruyter lost his self-posses- 
sion. He who had never been seen to abandon 
his firm control in every extremity exclaimed in 
his agony, "Oh, my God! how wretched am I, 
that among so many thousand balls not one will 



102 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

bring me death I " Almost immediately he re- 
gained his composure, and under the unremitting 
fire of Monk's batteries led his few battered ships, 
through a steady and glorious retreat, to the shal- 
low water and the sand-banks of Zealand, where 
he was protected from pursuit. Monk dared not 
follow him, lest his larger ships should run aground, 
and De Ruyter cast anchor off Walcheren without 
leaving a single vessel in the hands of the enemy. 

Impressed with the marvellous skill and endur- 
ance shown by De Ruyter in this retreat, the king 
of France sent him the insignia of the order of St. 
Michael, and his own portrait richly set in dia- 
monds. But in spite of the Dutch admiral's 
bravery, the British were now masters of the 
northern seas. They carried fire and destruction 
to the Texel, burned merchant vessels, and massa- 
cred the inhabitants of the fishing villages. 

Louis XIV, who at the outbreak of the war 
had promised assistance to the Dutch, now de- 
cided to give his tardy support to his allies, and 
sent a French squadron under the command of 
the Duke of Beaufort to the Channel. A futile 
attempt at a juncture of the two fleets ended the 
year 1666. 

The new fighting year was to open more brill- 
iantly for the Netherlands. In England the long 
winter months of naval inactivity had been passed 
by Charles II and his court in pleasures and fes- 
tivities. Peace negotiations were in slow and 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE DUTCH NAVY 103 



deliberate progress, and the king, overconfident in 
their success, had ordered the dismantling of many 
of his battle-ships and a return to a peace footing. 
This was the moment for the Dutch to strike 
a heavy blow. The equipment of a powerful fleet 
had been eagerly pressed forward throughout the 
winter. Toward the middle of June, 1667, fifty- 
four ships of war and fourteen fire-ships set sail 
from the Texel under De Ruyter, and on the 17th 
cast anchor near the almost defenceless mouth of 

the Thames. 

A squadron under Van Ghent sailed victoriously 
up the river among the dangerous sands and 
shoals, stormed the fort of Sheerness, seized the 
isle of Sheppey, entered the Medway, and came 
within thirty miles of London. At Chatham, 
England's great arsenal, a number of first-rate 
men-of-war lay at anchor, the largest ships of the 
British navy; they had been half dismantled, and 
De Ruyter was eager to destroy them. 

The British made hasty preparations for their 
defence. Six ships were sunk in the Medway, a 
chain was stretched across the narrow entrance 
which was only wide enough for one vessel to pass 
at a time, and four ships of the line, two frigates, 
and two shore batteries protected the passage 
from behind. The entrance seemed effectually 

blocked. 

The first of the Dutch ships to attack the line 
was a small frigate commanded by Captain Van 



104 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

Brakel. Under a brisk fire from the batteries 
and ships, he boldly advanced upon the chain, 
gave a broadside to the Uiiity and boarded her. 
At the same time a fire-ship forced the chain and 
broke it. Then one by one the rest of the Dutch 
fleet sailed through the opened passage and made 
an irresistible attack on the British squadron. 
The batteries surrendered, and the Royal Charles 
and four other ships were captured or burned. 

Advancing up the river, under a heavy cannon- 
ading from Upnor Castle, De Ruyter burned three 
large, unrigged men-of-war and took possession of 
great quantities of arms and ammunition. With 
a fair wind the Dutch sailed back to the mouth of 
the Thames, harassed the coast as far as Plymouth, 
cruised up and down the Channel, and carried con- 
sternation among the seaboard towns. 

Terror spread throughout London. The pride 
of Britain had been humbled; this blow to her 
naval power had deprived her of her sovereignty 
of the seas. A further resistance seemed danger- 
ous. Peace negotiations were hastened, and the 
Dutch, desiring only a speedy and successful end- 
ing to the war, were glad to reach an understand- 
ing. The peace of Breda, imposed upon Great 
Britain by victorious Holland, and signed on the 
31st of July, 1667, insured the safety and liberty 
of Dutch commerce, and established the rights of 
the States in northern and southern waters. 

Great were the rejoicings in the United Prov- 



THE TRIUMPH OF THE DUTCH NAVY 105 

inces at the news of the signing of the treaty. 
The people gave themselves up to festivities and 
amusements. Medals were struck off in token of 
the national satisfaction. Honors and magnificent 
gifts were heaped upon the victor, and the poets 
of Holland sang his praises. 

Meanwhile De Ruyter, simple and unassuming, 
too strong to be spoiled by flattery, and too noble 
to be influenced by favors, retired to his home in 
Amsterdam to enjoy his well-earned rest. There 
he lived quietly and frugally with his wife and 
children. His house was modest in size, his 
way of living was most unpretentious, and the 
great lieutenant-admiral wore clothes no better 
than those of a common sea captain. 



CHAPTER X 

HOW THE NETHERLANDS WERE SAVED 

De Ruyter had been living in his happy and 
peaceful home for little more than four years when 
he was again called out to serve his country. 
The peace of Breda and the Triple Alliance be 
tween Great Britain, Sweden, and the United 
Provinces had excited the wrath and indignation 
of the king of France. Louis XIV, covetous of 
the rich land of the Netherlands, had long medi- 
tated their conquest either by craft or by force. 
He at last determined to resort to arms. 

His first step was to induce the weak and vacil- 
lating Charles II to break faith with the Dutch 
and to enter into a secret treaty with France. Ac- 
cording to this agreement France was to invade 
the United Provinces by land, while Great Britain 
attacked them by sea. It seemed hardly possible 
that the little republic, left to fight her battles 
alone, could long hold out against these two for- 
midable opponents. 

War was declared by France and Great Britain 
in April, 1672. Louis XIV, with the Duke of 
Orleans and his famous generals, Cond^ and 

106 



HOW THE NETHERLANDS WERE SAVED lOT 

Turenne, invaded the Netherlands on the side of 
the Rhine, at the head of an army of one hundred 
and twenty thousand men. Town after town sur- 
rendered or was carried by assault. The Rhine 
was crossed, and the invaders swept to the very 
doors of Holland. Unable to oppose a firm and 
strenuous resistance to the enemy by land, the en- 
tire safety of the republic now lay in the hands 
of De Ruyter. 

The Dutch fleet had been increased to ninety-one 
ships of the line and frigates, with a number of fire- 
ships and yachts. In May, 1672, De Ruyter sailed 
in quest of the enemy. The stakes for which he 
was playing were high — nothing less than the 
independence, life, and safety of his country — and 
in his hands he held the last cards with which to 
play his dangerous game. If defeat were to come 
to him, if this the last fleet of the republic were 
to be destroyed, the United Provinces, torn by in- 
ternal dissensions, riddled by treachery and coward- 
ice, overwhelmed by a triumphant army of invaders, 
would be powerless to equip a new one. 

On the 7th of June, after a week of search, De 
Ruyter sighted the allied British and French fleets, 
under the command of the Duke of York, covering 
with its white sail the waters of Solebay. It was 
a formidable array — one hundred and forty-nine 
men-of-war, vastly superior in size and in the 
number of their men and guns to those of the 
Dutch. 



108 ADMIRAL BE RUYTER 

Warned by a lookout of the approach of the 
enemy, the British promptly formed in solid 
battle array and prepared for the attack. The 
Dutch line was divided into three squadrons : De 
Ruyter in the centre, Van Ghent on the right, and 
Admiral Bankert on the left. As the fleet of the 
republic advanced upon its enemies, De Ruyter 
knelt down in his cabin and prayed for Divine 
help in the coming struggle, and for courage and 
wisdom to guide him in this great crisis. 

On reaching the deck he espied in the distance 
the red flag of the Duke of York, and turning to 
his pilot ordered him to steer straight upon the 
British flag-ship. A terrific broadside from both 
vessels opened the battle. For two hours the Brit- 
ish and the Dutch admirals lay side by side in 
stubborn conflict, and enveloped in a dense cloud 
of smoke. By nine o'clock the mainmast of the 
British flag-ship was shot away, and the Duke of 
York was obliged to transfer his flag to the jSL 
Michael. Later in the day his second ship also 
was so much damaged that he again changed his 
flag to the London. 

On the left wing the fighting was not severe. 
Count d'Estr^es, who commanded the French 
contingent, took no active part in the engagement, 
and throughout the day his squadron kept at long 
range, although Admiral Bankert tried every de- 
vice to bring him into close action. But around 
the right wing the battle raged furiously. Early 



HOW THE NETHERLANDS WERE SAVED 109 



in the day Van Ghent, who had thrown himself 
with impetuosity upon the squadron of the blue, 
was killed by a cannon ball. His death was con- 
cealed from the rest of his squadron, and the fight 
was continued with undiminished vigor while his 
flag still flew from his masthead. The British 
vice-admiral, Montague, perished with his ship, 
the Royal James, which was boarded and fired. 

De Ruyter in the Seven Provinces kept his stand 
in the centre of the fight until the end. The Brit- 
ish admiral and three vice-admirals had attacked 
him, ship after ship had surrounded him, but 
each in turn had been obliged to retire without 
silencing his guns. From his vessel alone twenty- 
five thousand pounds of powder and thirty-five 
hundred balls were fired. At one time he was 
isolated from the rest of his fleet, unsupported 
except by a yacht and one frigate. He was at 
that moment in imminent peril, for the Duke of 
York attempted to cut off his retreat, and a fire- 
ship was sent against him. But De Ruyter dexter- 
ously extricated himself, and the British admiral 
acknowledged that he had been outmanoeuvred 
at every point. 

A British lieutenant, who had been brought as 
a prisoner on board the Seven Provinces, said of 
De Ruyter, that he was at once " admiral, captain, 
pilot, sailor, and soldier." De Ruyter himself 
spoke of this action as the most desperate and pro- 
longed battle in which he had ever taken part. 



110 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

Although the battle raged with steady and un- 
abated fury from seven in the morning until night- 
fall, neither side had gained a decisive victory 
vi^hen darkness separated them, but the advantage 
lay with the Dutch. They had lost fewer ships 
than the British, and had prevented a descent 
upon the coast of Zealand. The next morning 
found the two fleets still face to face, but neither 
offered to renew the battle. The allies retired to 
the coast of England, and the Dutch set sail for 
Zealand. 

De Ruyter had saved the republic. Relieved 
from the fear of a descent upon the coast and of 
the overwhelming disaster of a double invasion, 
the United Provinces could concentrate all their 
energies upon resisting the enemy by land. Two- 
thirds of the fleet was dismantled; the naval troops, 
arms, and ammunition were transferred to the land 
forces, which were in sore need of being recruited. 

The united Dutch and Spanish regiments of 
infantry and cavalry amounted to only twelve 
thousand men. This was the last remnant of 
opposition that Grand-pensionary De Witt could 
bring against the vast army of invasion. Success 
after success marked the rapid progress of the 
French troops. The entire provinces of Gelder- 
land, Overyssel, and Utrecht fell into the hands of 
Louis XIV. The very heart of Holland was sur- 
rounded by the enemy. 

In this extremity one resource w^as left for the 



HOW THE NETHERLANDS WERE SAVED 111 

deliverance of Holland. The waters of the sea 
and the rivers could be called to her aid. By an 
heroic sacrifice of wealth and prosperity, by the 
destruction of houses, gardens, and crops, the 
liberty of the Dutch, dear to them beyond all 
possessions, might yet be saved. Intersected by 
canals, rivers, and lakes, surrounded by seas and 
sulfs, Holland had protected herself against an 
Invasion of the waters by an elaborate system of 
dikes, ditches, and sluices. 

This very system could be used as a last resource 
of defence by submerging the entire country under 
water. Amsterdam was the first to take the gen- 
erous step. The other cities followed her noble 
example. The sluices were opened, the dikes cut, 
the sea rushed in, and the whole land lay under 
water. The patriotism of the Hollanders was 
tested to the last point of devotion and self- 

But the danger of conquest was not the only one 
to which the republic was exposed. Exasperated 
by the events of the war, discouraged by the con- 
stant reverses of their arms, the people of Holland 
rose in open rebellion against the existing govern- 
ment. Charged with crime and Reason heaped 
with every unjust accusation, the brothers De Witt 
who for so many years had devoted their lives with 
heroic constancy to the interests of their country, 
were imprisoned and grossly murdered by the 
enraged populace. 



112 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

Even De Ruyter, the valiant leader, whose life 
and genius had been given to the republic and 
who in peril and anguish had fought her battles, 
did not escape from the popular fury. As a friend 
of the De Witts, he also tasted the vacillations of 
the people's favor. While he was still at the head 
of his fleet, sailing in quest of the allies, his house 
in Amsterdam was surrounded by an excited mob, 
and his wife and children in danger of a violent 
death. 

The rebellion in Holland ended in a change of 
government and the proclamation of the Prince of 
Orange as William III, Stadtholder. Although the 
newstadtholder continued De Ruyter in his position 
as commander of the fleet, the power of the navy 
gradually declined after his accession. Not more 
than fifty-two poorly equipped and incompletely 
armed ships of the line and twelve frigates were 
left for the protection of the coast. 

In 1673, a year after the battle of Solebay, De 
Ruyter had stationed himself with this reduced 
force at Schoonevelt, and lay at anchor waiting 
for the allied fleet which was again meditating a 
landing on the coast of Zealand. On the 7th of 
June the combined British and French squadrons 
appeared upon the waters of the North Sea and bore 
down upon their enemy. A hundred and forty-five 
sail, of which fifty-three were shijDs of the line, with 
ten thousand men on board, formed a powerful 
antagonist to the small handful of Dutchmen. 



HOW THE NETHERLANDS WERE SAVED 113 

De Ruyter and Cornells Tromp received the 
shock of the first encounter with firmness and 
spirit. The unequal fight was kept up all day. 
Tromp's impetuosity carried him into the very 
thick of the battle, and four times he transferred 
his flag from ship to ship. The enemy's fire raked 
vessel after vessel from helm to stern, and com- 
pletely disabled them. Yet darkness fell on the 
combatants before the contest ended in any definite 
result. To the Dutch it was equal to a victory, 
as it had saved their shores a second time from 
invasion. 

On the 14th of June a second drawn battle was 
followed by the retreat of the British to the 
Thames. They however did not wholly renounce 
their project of a descent upon the Dutch coast, 
and toward the middle of August a powerful fleet, 
a hundred and fifty strong, set sail under Prince 
Rupert. This was the last time for a hundred 
years that the British and Dutch were to measure 
their power at sea. 

So stubborn and plucky a foe as the Dutch 
could not be vanquished even by twice their num- 
bers. The spectacle of the resolute Netherlanders, 
fighting for their liberties against the two most 
powerful nations of Europe, and holding their 
beloved swamps against legions of men and vast 
fleets of ships, is one that never fails to rouse our 
admiration and wonder. They held their shores 
to the end, and while they were not victors, neither 



114 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

were they vanquished. The}^ forced their enemies 
to desist from very weariness. They would not 
give in, and their indomitable courage and deter- 
mination held their mighty opponents at bay. In 
this last fight against their great sea rivals the 
Dutch finally chased the British from their shores 
and freed themselves from one at least of their 
antagonists. 

Peace with Great Britain was soon afterward 
concluded, and the war continued against France 
alone. The naval operations of the campaign 
were now carried to distant waters. De Ruyter 
was sent with a squadron to the Mediterranean 
to assist Spain against France, and in the last 
battles of his life he had for antagonist the famous 
French admiral, Du Quesne, founder of the naval 
greatness of France. 

It was hardly a fair trial of strength between 
the two renowned leaders, for under the govern- 
ment of the Prince of Orange the efficiency of the 
Dutch marine had greatly declined. The navy, 
which had been the chief interest of Grand- 
pensionary De Witt, had become subservient to 
the army, the favorite child of Stadtholder 
William. 

We can well understand the anger and indig- 
nation of De Ruyter when he was sent to uphold 
the honor of his country's flag in southern seas 
with only eighteen ships, and those miserably 
equipped. When the veteran Dutch admiral set 



HOW THE NETHERLANDS WERE SAVED 115 

sail from Helvoetsluys on what was to be his 
last expedition, he felt a conviction that he would 
never return. "It is my duty," he said, "to obey 
the commands of the state ; " but he realized the 
terrible inefficiency of his squadron, and the almost 
inevitable result of so rash an enterprise. 

Flying his flag from the Unity^ his own ship the 
Seven Provinces being too damaged for the voyage, 
he sailed for the waters of the Mediterranean. 
His destination was Sicily. The fair island of 
the South had risen in revolt against Spain, the 
only ally of Holland, and had given over her 
allegiance to Louis XIV. 

A Spanish fleet had vainly attempted to recon- 
quer Messina, and had retreated ignominiously 
before a far inferior force. Admirals Vivonne and 
Du Quesne were in full possession of the harbor, 
and the French continued to strengthen them- 
selves along the whole line of the coast. 

Early in January, 1676, De Ruyter reached the 
shores of Sicily, and sighted the French fleet be- 
tween Stromboli and Salino. Du Quesne at once 
made the signal to engage. The attack was vigor- 
ous, and was met with obstinate fortitude. The 
Dutch, although inferior in strength both in ships 
and guns, showed their good fighting qualities and 
defended themselves with spirit. Night closed 
upon another drawn battle, and the fight was not 
renewed in the morning. Both fleets retired to 
port to repair damages. 



116 ADMIRAL DE RUYTER 

During the following weeks reenforcements 
arrived on both sides. A squadron of twelve 
ships of the line and four frigates increased the 
numbers of the French fleet, and De Ruyter suc- 
ceeded in making a junction with the Spanish 
admiral, La Cerda. The advantage in numbers 
and equipment still lay with Vivonne and Du 
Quesne, who counted thirty ships of war against 
twenty-four of the combined Dutch and Spanish 
fleet. The Spaniards, besides, proved to be more 
of a hindrance than a help to De Ruyter, and still 
further diminished his chances of success. 

The Dutch were threatening Agosta, when on 
the 22d of April the French fleet hove suddenly in 
sight. De Ruyter signalled the attack, and under 
the smoking crater of Mt. Etna the rival men-of- 
war bore down on one another, enveloped in the 
dense smoke of their broadsides. The action con- 
tinued at close quarters all day, and the firing was 
incessant. 

In the morning, not long after the engagement 
had begun, De Ruyter was standing on the 
quarter-deck, giving orders and directing the 
fight, when a ball shot away part of his left foot 
and shattered his right leg. He was thrown on to 
the lower deck; but with wonderful spirit he con- 
tinued to give his orders and encourage his men. 

When darkness fell, the French retreated to 
Messina, and on the following morning the Dutch 
fleet carried their wounded commander to Syra- 



HOW THE NETHERLANDS WERE SAVED 117 

cuse, where he was tended with all the care that 
love and skill could suggest. But his wounds 
proved fatal. Surrounded by his faithful captains, 
in the cabin of his flag-ship, the chief of Dutch 
seamen died. He had given to the Netherlands, 
during his life, a short but glorious mastery of the 
seas ; but his work did not survive him. With him 
passed away the power and glory of the Dutch 
navy. 



MARSHAL ANNE-HILARION DE 
TOURVILLE 

1642-1701 



1 



MARSHAL ANNE-HILARION DE 
TOURVILLE 

CHAPTER XI 

THE FOUNDING OF FRENCH SEA-POWER 

It has been the lot of each of the chief maritime 
nations of Europe to grasp and to hold for a 
moment or for a century the supreme sovereignty 
of the waters. One of these brilliant but transi- 
tory flashes of triumph came to France during the 
reign of Louis XIV and at the very outset of her 
career as a great naval power. 

Four names have come down to us as personify- 
ing this war drama of the sea: Colbert and his son 
the Marquis de Seignelay, the gifted ministers of 
Louis XIV who created the French navy, and the 
two admirals, Du Quesne and Tourville, who led 
the French fleets to victory. Wholly unlike in 
birth, character, and talent, but equal in zeal, am- 
bition, and patriotic devotion, these four illustrious 
men shared the glory of having made France a 
great naval power. But while Du Quesne, with 
his experience and ability as a seaman, prepared 
the way for the culminating triumphs of the 
121 



122 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

French fleets, it was his successor Tourville, the 
most brilliant of the admirals of France, who won 
for France that glorious but transient sovereignty 
of the seas. 

Anne-Hilarion de Cotentin, Comte de Tour- 
ville, a descendant on his maternal side of the 
noble family of La Rochefoucauld, was born in 
1642, at the castle of Tourville in Normandy. 
His father, Csesar, Baron de Tourville and de 
Fimes, who was at one time attache of the Due 
de Saint-Simon, and afterward first gentleman 
in waiting and a close friend of King Louis XIII, 
died in 1647, when Anne-Hilarion was only five 
years of age. Slender, pale, almost delicate as a 
boy, it was little thought that this frail child was 
destined to spend forty-five years of his life in 
active, tireless service on the sea, and that he was 
to be counted as one of the foremost commanders 
of his time. His novitiate in arms was one that 
early developed those brilliant and daring traits 
of character which distinguished him throughout 
his life. 

Anne-Hilarion was the youngest of three 
brothers, and as cadet of the family he was des- 
tined for the famous Order of the Knights of 
Malta, into which he was entitled to enter by his 
noble birth. Admitted to the Order as a Knight 
of Justice at the age of fourteen, he became a mem- 
ber of the privileged band of sixteen pages who 
daily attended on the Grand-master — a widely 



THE FOUNDING OF FRENCH SEA-POWER 123 

coveted distinction, and one for which a large 
number of candidates yearly enrolled their names. 

After three years of page duty Tourville spent 
a twelvemonth in probation, and at eighteen was 
received as a professed Knight of the Order. 
This was the opening of his career as a seaman ; 
the next seven years of his life were passed on the 
Mediterranean, fighting the Moorish buccaneers 
who swarmed over the narrow seas, and protecting 
the commerce of Europe from the ravages of the 
Barbary Corsairs. 

These wild Moslem pirates, the highwaymen 
of the Mediterranean, whose haunts lay among the 
creeks and inlets of the North African coast, had 
already for more than a hundred and fifty years 
been a thorn in the side of Christendom. They 
spread terror along the southern shores of Europe, 
they ravaged the seaport towns of Italy, Sicily, 
and Spain, they interrupted commerce, held up rich 
convoys bound to distant marts, and chained thou- 
sands of Christian slaves to the galley benches of 
their robber craft. Many of the greatest seamen 
of successive ages, admirals of Italy, Spain, France, 
and Holland, had spent the best years of their 
lives in fighting these leeches of trade. But their 
natural rivals and untiring enemies, those whose 
mission it had become to dispute and weaken their 
power, were the Knights of Malta, themselves the 
Christian buccaneers of the Mediterranean. 

The navy of the Order, which had gained a 



124 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

widespread reputation in its brilliant crusades 
against the crescent, consisted in early times and 
down to the period of Tourville in a fleet of gal- 
leys under the immediate command of the gen- 
eral of the galleys. Every knight was obliged to 
serve in four cruises of six months each, and Tour- 
ville thus found himself launched upon a career 
that was to bring him future fame and distinction. 
In his first encounter with the Barbary Corsairs 
he exposed himself heedlessly to the raking fire 
of the enemy, and fought with a reckless daring 
that gained him the admiration of friend and foe. 
Wounded in three places, he still kept his gallant 
stand and refused to be carried off the deck. 

A long succession of heroic deeds won for him 
a reputation for ability and intrepid courage that 
spread from Venice to the royal court of France. 
The Venetian republic, grateful for his services 
in freeing her from the depredations of the Alge- 
rine sea robbers, gave him the titles of " Protector 
of Maritime Commerce" and " Invincible Seaman." 
Louis XIV, whose attention had been attracted 
by accounts of the Maltese knight's successful 
cruises, called him to court, and in 1667 Tourville 
sailed for Paris and was presented to the king, who 
received him with flattering approval. 

His career was now assured. The great mon- 
arch, with his insatiable love of glory and his 
passion for war, keenly realized the necessity of 
surrounding himself with the best naval and mill- 



THE FOUNDING OF FRENCH SEA-POWER 125 



taiy talent of France. Tourville, shortly after his 
presentation, received his commission as captain 
in the royal navy, and was given the command of 
a ship. 

The relations of France to other continental 
nations were, meanwhile, rapidly reaching a crisis, 
and the services of Tourville were to be needed 
before long in the waters of the English Channel in 
the war against Holland. France and Great Britain 
had united to crush the power of the Netherlands, 
and in 1672 sent a formal declaration of hostilities 
to the Dutch republic. Was France in a position 
to enter upon a war with the foremost maritime 
nation of Europe — a war that must necessarily 
involve a long series of contests upon the sea? 
During the years when Tourville had been lay- 
ing the foundations of his renown France had 
given birth to a navy. It was one of the dazzling 
feats of the reign of the great monarch. 

The policy of expansion and conquest of Louis 
XIV had been ably seconded by the talented 
statesman whom he had placed at the head of the 
departments of finance and marine, the famous 
Colbert. On coming into office in 1661 the new 
minister found the country in a state of disorder 
and financial ruin. Gross corruption in the admin- 
istration, bankruptcy in the treasury, overwhelm- 
ing taxation, and starvation and death among the 
peasantry had undermined the very life of the land. 
Colbert, believing that one of the most potent 



126 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

influences in securing the wealth and prosperity of 
the state lay in developing her trade, knew also 
that to acquire and maintain supremacy in com- 
merce against jealous and powerful rivals meant 
the protection of shipping interests by a strong 
fleet. After having restored order to the inter- 
nal affairs of the country, and placed the public 
treasury on a firmer financial basis, Colbert turned 
his energies to the formation of a navy. In 1661 
the royal navy of France consisted of six miserable 
galleys and two war-ships, with an appropriation 
of only 300,000 francs. Ten years later Colbert 
had built up a navy with a budget of 13,000,000 
francs, and a fleet of over fifty ships of the line. 

Never before had the creation of a navy been 
accomplished within so short a time. It was the 
most brilliant of Colbert's achievements. With- 
out it the glories of Palermo and of Beachy Head 
would have been lost to France. Energy in ad- 
ministration and speed in construction were the 
minister's mottoes. The dockyards bustled with 
activity, ship-builders were imported from Hol- 
land to build vessels that were afterward to wrest 
the supremacy of the Mediterranean from the 
grasp of the Dutch. Practice and strenuous 
watchfulness carried the rapidity of the work to 
an incredible point of perfection. Thus, able 
statesmen and skilful workers made possible the 
sudden rise of the French navy, and placed weap- 
ons in the hands of Louis XIV with which he 



THE FOUNDING OF FRENCH SEA-POWER 127 

could gratify his love of glory and his intolerance 
of all rivals in power. 

Envy of the enormous commercial wealth ot the 
Netherlands was, in fact, the main cause of the 
Franco-British alliance and the declaration of war 

of 1672. , ^ , 

Although Holland was almost powerless to repel 
the formidable French army that overwhelmed her 
by land, she was fully able to offer a stubborn re- 
sistance to the allies on her natural element, the 
sea In the first important naval engagement ot 
the war, the battle of Solebay, Tourville served 
in his capacity of captain under Vice-admiral d Es- 
tr^es against the great De Ruyter But in this 
contest the French squadron took little or no 
active part, leaving the hard fighting to their Brit- 
ish allies. Not so in the Mediterranean, which 
during the next four years, became the centre o 
operations, and where the French bore the full 

brunt of the war. 

Great Britain, weary of hostilities, had withdrawn 
from the contest and had signed a treaty of peace 
with the Dutch. France was left to contmue the 
war alone. Determined to destroy the commerce 
of the Netherlands, she sent her men-of-war to the 
Mediterranean; and in the waters of the South, 
which then became the centre of operations, she 
acquitted herself withhouor, and her young squad- 
rons won their first laurels at Stromboli, at Agosta, 
and at Palermo. 



128 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

In these great battles of the Mediterranean, 
which established French supremacy in southern 
waters, Tourville took an active part under the 
leadership of Admiral Du Quesne, the famous 
pioneer seaman and able commander in the new 
navy, whose exploits were dear to the hearts of all 
Frenchmen. Many gallant young seamen, the 
best fighters in France, served under the veteran 
leader who was to make his country the mistress 
of the Mediterranean; but the dashing figure of 
Captain Tourville, the future marshal of France, 
then only thirty-four years of age, stood out from 
the rest in brilliancy and promise. 

Spain, who had allied herself with Holland, was 
threatened with the loss of one of her most impor- 
tant possessions in the Queen Island of the Medi- 
terranean. The seaport town of Messina, in Sicily, 
had risen in revolt against the Catholic king ; the 
insurgents had captured the forts, and gained 
almost entire possession of the city. Too weak, 
however, to carry on the rebellion without foreign 
aid, the Messinese asked for the protection of the 
king of France. Admiral Vivonne was lying at 
anchor with his fleet off the coast of Catalonia. 
Under his orders were gathered some of the most 
renowned seamen of France, — Freuilly, Valbelle, 
Tourville. He at once detached Valbelle, on the 
27th of September, 1674, with a small squadron to 
help the insurgents, and in the following January, 
1675, sent a second relief expedition in which 



THE FOUNDING OF FRENCH SEA-POWER 129 

Tourville served as captain. The Spaniards had 
recaptured several forts, among them the Pharo 
and Fort Reggio. A Spanish army, encamped 
outside the gates of Messina, was pressing the 
city vigorously by land, and a fleet of forty-one sail 
guarded the entrance to the Straits. Messina lay 
at the mercy of the Spaniards surrounded by land 
and sea. On the 2d of January Valbelle's little 
squadron of six ships of the line, one frigate, three 
fire-ships, and a convoy of supplies bore gallantly 
down under full sail. 

With a fresh wind and an incoming tide the 
French ships dashed through the channel, borne 
swiftly along on the rapid current ; past the barri- 
cade of Spanish galleys, under the fire of the forts, 
they forced their entrance into the Straits with 
bewildering audacity. The amazed Spaniards in 
their heavy men-of-war offered no resistance. Mes- 
sina was relieved by a brilliant stroke. 

The new supply of provisions, however, was 
small and was soon exhausted. In five weeks the 
besieged were reduced anew to starvation. But 
their deliverance was at hand. Early in February, 
Admiral Vivonne, with Du Quesne as second in 
command, arrived in the waters of Stromboli, and, 
reenforced by the squadron of Valbelle, attacked 
and put to flight the great Spanish armament. 
Caught between two fires and seized with panic, 
the Spaniards fled before a force of less than half 
their numbers. With crowded sail, even to the 



130 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

spritsail, they escaped, and Admiral Vivonne sailed 
in triumph into Messina, where he was received 
with the wildest demonstrations of joy and grati- 
tude. 

During the rest of the year 1675 the French 
strengthened themselves in Sicily and extended 
their conquests along the southern coast. In these 
operations Tourville distinguished himself on two 
occasions. During the summer he was ordered 
to the Adriatic to intercept a small squadron of 
ships carrying troops for the relief of Melazzo. 
Hoisting all sail, he sped swiftly to the north, but it 
was too late. The troops had been landed on the 
coast of Italy and were already marching south- 
ward toward Sicily. But from a passing fish- 
ing smack Tourville learned that the three trans- 
port ships of the enemy had dropped anchor in the 
Gulf of Manfredonia under the guns of Fort 
Barletta. 

Disappointed in his first venture, he now deter- 
mined to surprise and capture this small squadron. 
Under cover of the night he approached stealthily 
within range and, when the first dawn of day 
lighted the horizon, opened fire on the enemy. 
After a brisk cannonading four boats with a crew 
of boarders were sent to complete the capture. 
Under a raking fire from the batteries of the fort 
the intrepid Frenchmen cut the cables of two 
ships, and after some severe fighting set fire to the 
third. 



THE FOUNDING OF FRENCH SEA-POWER 131 

On returning to Messina from this exploit the 
French frigate, that had accompanied Tourville to 
the Adriatic, was carried by the strong current 
under the very ramparts of Fort Reggio, and after 
an obstinate resistance was captured by ten Span- 
ish galleys. With an ebb tide and a favorable 
wind Tourville on the Sirene^ Captain Lery on 
the Temeraire., and one fire-ship bore down in the 
broad light of day upon the ten galleys in full 
view of the town and bastions and fort of Reggio. 
Fully determined to either recapture or set fire 
to the G-racieuse^ Tourville stationed himself at a 
point from which he could train his guns on the 
Spanish land batteries. Then, in the heat of a 
raging storm of shot, the little fire-ship dashed out 
from under the lee of the land, grappled the frigate, 
and fired her. In an instant the flames wrapped 
the masts and rigging in a blazing mass, leaped 
with the wind from ship to ship and from ship to 
shore, and spread in a vast conflagration. Fifteen 
Spanish ships were burned, a powder magazine 
exploded and demolished part of a bastion, and a 
portion of the town was left in ruins. The two 
French captains returned to Messina with the loss 
of only a few men, and Tourville at once wrote to 
the minister of marine, praising the intrepidity of 
his followers, and asking that M. Serpaut, who 
commanded the fire-ship, should be promoted. 

On the 17th of August an attack was projected 
on Agosta. Twenty-nine ships, under Vivonne, 



132 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

anchored in the bay, and opened their broadsides 
on the forts that protected the harbor. While the 
admiral and Du Quesne were silencing the outer 
batteries of the enemy, Tourville had been in- 
trusted with a more hazardous undertaking. 
Leading a small division of six ships to the mouth 
of the harbor, he forced an entrance under the 
galling lire of the works, and turned his broadsides 
into Fort Avalo, the strongest and most important 
of the enemy's defences. After a brisk cannon- 
ading the fort still held out, and Tourville sent 
Coetlogon with a small band of men to lead a hand- 
to-hand assault. Under a storm of shot and stones, 
the first barricade was captured. Tourville, now 
alarmed for the safety of his friend, threw himself 
impetuously into a small boat, called on a few vol- 
unteers to second him, and flew to the aid of Coet- 
logon. The enemy made a feint of running up a 
white flag ; but when the French had come within 
close range, they let fly a furious discharge of artil- 
lery. After an hour's obstinate fight the second 
barricade was carried, and the fort surrendered. 

The key to the harbor had been captured. The 
rest followed quickly, and in a few hours the town 
capitulated. Tourville was the hero of the day. 
His gallant act made the French masters of 
Agosta. But in writing of the engagement to 
the minister of marine, he speaks of his own 
achievement with sincere modesty. Always quick 
in rendering warm praise to his subordinates, and 



THE FOUNDING OF FRENCH SEA-POWER 133 

recommending them for promotion, he was quiet 
and unostentatious in his personal claims to honor, 
attributing his successes more to the " negligence " 
and "cowardice" of the enemy than to his own 
prowess, and awarding all the glory to " Fortune." 
He was, however, beginning to fret at his slow 
promotion, and was realizing that his services had 
not been sufficiently recognized at headquarters. 
Writing to the minister after the fall of Agosta, 
he says, " I hope that with your help and the small 
successes that have fallen to my share in this cam- 
paign I shall be able this winter to leave the rank 
of captain which has become almost insufferable to 
me." 

His calm remonstrances seem to have had the 
desired effect, for we find him in the following 
year raised to the rank of commodore. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE CONQUEST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN 

While these events were occupying the French 
in the waters of Sicily, the Dutch were preparing 
to send out an expedition to the assistance of their 
allies the Spaniards, in the hope of wresting Messina 
from the grasp of France. The famous De Ruyter 
received from William of Orange the order to 
hoist sail for the Mediterranean, make a juncture 
with the Spanish fleet, and force the rebel Sicilian 
town to return to the allegiance of the king of 
Spain. During the last days of December, 1675, 
De Ruyter, at the head of eighteen men-of-war, 
reached the scene of action, and on the 7th of 
January, 1676, came face to face with the French 
fleet in the waters of Stromboli. 

The scene of the meeting was one of picturesque 
grandeur. The group of volcanic islands of Lipari 
are the outposts of Sicily — rock-sentinels that 
guard the entrance to the Gulf of Joy bordered by 
the shores of Italy and the Queen Island of the 
Mediterranean. On Stromboli, which forms the 
gateway to the gulf, stands the great lighthouse of 
the southern sea, rising two thousand feet above 

134 



CONQUEST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN 135 

the waters — a living volcano whose open crater 
feeds the flames of an ever burning beacon. At 
the foot of this grim mountain torch the greatest 
seamen of the age hastened to measure their 
strength and prowess. 

Du Quesne, who had under his orders twenty- 
five battle-ships and six fire-ships, divided his fleet 
into three squadrons, the Sceptre^ Tourville's ship, 
following close upon the flag-ship in the centre. 
For twenty-four hours the rival fleets lay two 
miles apart watching each other's movements and 
manoeuvring to gain the wind. As the gray light 
of dawn spread over the skies on the morning of 
the 8th, a stiff wind sprang up to the advantage of 
the French, and Du Quesne bore down full sail 
upon his adversary. The Dutch received the 
shock firmly and opened a heavy fire upon their 
assailants. From ten in the morning until ten at 
night both sides fought at close quarters along the 
whole line with vigor and intrepidity. 

Tourville found himself in the hottest part of 
the fight and gallantly supported his leader in his 
position as second astern. At one time he was in 
a hand-to-hand conflict with a huge three-decker, 
and his ship, torn and riddled in masts, sails, and 
rigging, was saved by a French fire-ship that came 
to his assistance. Toward the close of the day a 
squadron of nine Spanish galleys swept down 
upon the French flag-ship and annoyed her with 
their chase guns, but Tourville sent two 36- 



136 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

pounders among them and scattered them in a 
precipitate flight. When darkness . closed on the 
combatants, the loss on the two sides had been 
about equal, and neither had gained a decisive ad- 
vantage. Although on the following day both 
fleets were reenforced by additional ships, neither 
Du Quesne nor De Ruyter ventured on a renewal 
of the struggle. Du Quesne sailed around Sicily 
and entered Messina from the south ; while De 
Ruyter went first to Naples and afterward to 
Palermo to revictual and refit. 

The most important action, however, was yet to 
come. On the 22d of April, 1676, almost at the 
foot of Mt. Etna, between Catania and Agosta, the 
French fleet of thirty men-of-war encountered 
the combined Dutch and Spanish squadrons, which 
counted twenty-seven ships of the line. Both sides 
bore down until within musket shot of each other. 
The conflict was prolonged and furious. As dark- 
ness closed in upon the antagonists, De Ruyter's 
flag-ship fell in with the Saint Esprit^ at whose 
masthead waved the flag of Du Quesne. In a few 
moments the two flag-ships were wrapped in the 
dense smoke of their broadsides. To right and 
left Tourville's Sceptre and the Saint Michel 
brought their guns to bear on the plucky Dutch- 
man and forced him to retreat. Not until later 
was it known that De Ruyter lay wounded in the 
cock-pit. A ball from one of the French ships had 
shattered one of his legs earlier in the engagement. 



CONQUEST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN 137 

and thrown him on to the lower deck. Although 
he died five days later, his wound at the time was 
not thought to be really serious. 

At ten o'clock the firing ceased and the comba- 
tants separated. The next morning in rain and 
mist the allied fleet, crippled and shattered, retired 
to Syracuse, and the French, after keeping the sea 
until the 1st of May, sailed into the harbor of 
Messina. 

The death of De Ruyter was the knell of the 
allied fleet and an irreparable blow to Holland. 
With the loss of the greatest of its heroes and its 
ablest commander, the Dutch navy soon declined 
in power, and the next sea battle, fought on the 
2d of June in the harbor of Palermo, was, for the 
French, one of the most complete naval victories 
on record. After revictualling and repairing their 
damaged ships, the allies had sailed out of Syracuse 
harbor, doubled the island of Sicily on the south, 
and entered the port of Palermo, there to await the 
movements of the enemy's fleet. They were not 
kept long in suspense. On the 28th of May the 
French fleet of twenty-nine ships of the line, 
twenty-five galleys, and nine fire-ships put to sea 
from the harbor of Messina, and, passing through 
the channel of the Pharo, sailed northward in 
search of the Hispano-Dutch armament. 

The Duke of Vivonne, viceroy of Sicily and nom- 
inal head of the Mediterranean fleet, went in person 
to share in this last glorious venture of the French 



138 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

arms. Running up his flag on Tourville's ship the 
Sceptre^ which thus became the chief vessel of the 
centre, he divided his fleet into three squadrons, 
Du Quesne, as vice-admiral, taking command of 
the vanguard. Four days after leaving Messina 
the French fleet sighted the harbor of Palermo, 
and there the combined fleet of the allies rode at 
anchor in complete battle array. The Spaniards 
held the centre under Don Diego de Ibarra, La 
Cerda having been disgraced after his last defeat. 
On the right and left wings were the Dutch ships 
under the leadership of Admiral Haan, who had 
succeeded to the chief command after the death of 
De Ruyter. The ships were moored in a straight 
and compact line of battle, three or four cable 
lengths from the entrance to the roadstead. Some 
of the vessels were sheltered by the mole. The 
combined fleet numbered twenty-seven ships of the 
line, four fire-ships, and nineteen galleys. 

As soon as the French vanguard sighted the 
allied fleet, Vivonne called four of his most trusted 
officers and sent them on a difficult and perilous J 
undertaking. Among them was Tourville, the} 
youngest of the commodores. They were ordered " 
to make a complete examination of the enemy's 
position, and to draw up a plan of the defences. 
Setting out in a small sail-boat, in broad day- 
light, and supported by the squadron of galleys, 
the valiant and devoted little band entered the 
harbor and approached to within close range of 



CONQUEST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN 139 

the serried battle front. Sailing up and down the 
enemy's line, Tourville and his companions passed 
it in review from end to end. Struck with admira- 
tion for their audacious courage, the enemy looked 
on in silence, and not a gun was fired. 

On their return they reported that the Hispano- 
Dutch fleet was moored under the city; the left 
wing was flanked by the mole and its two works, 
the centre was covered by the strong fortress of 
Castellamare, and the right wing by another fort 
and the city bastions — a formidable line of defences 
which completely protected the approach to the 
fleet. On the sides and in all the spaces between 
the great ships of war hovered the galleys, forming 
an apparently impregnable front. The commander- 
in-chief immediately called a council of war to 
decide on the plan of attack. Tourville, quick to 
conceive, daring in resolution, and prompt in action, 
had already framed a plan, and after long discus- 
sion it was adopted. 

Early on the morning of the 2d of June, with a 
stiff breeze blowing from the northwest, the French 
fleet sailed, in order of battle, through the entrance 
to the harbor. Led by a detachment of nine ships 
of the line and five fire-ships, which were to open 
the action by attacking the head of the enemy's 
line, the entire column entered the bay in silence 
and took up its position opposite the Hispano-Dutch 
fleet. Every deck was cleared for action, every 
man was at his post, the guns were ready to be 



140 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

fired, but not a shot came from the French port- 
holes until the anchors were cast. The Dutch 
broadsides swept the decks fore and aft before 
the Frenchmen had swung into place. Then the 
French guns opened a furious fire. The vigor of 
the storm of shot made the Dutch ships tremble 
and waver. Along the whole line the same im- 
petuosity of attack filled the allies with fear and 
dismay. Half an hour after the action had begun, 
the Spanish vice-admiral cut his cables and drifted 
toward the shore. 

The line had been opened, and the French re- 
turned to the attack with fresh energy. Two more 
flag-ships were forced to cut their cables, and others 
followed in the panic. Several ships ran aground ; 
some took refuge behind the mole. Then the 
French let loose their fire-ships, and the wildest 
confusion took possession of the allies. Twelve 
men-of-war were burned, among them the Spanish 
and Dutch flag-ships. The Dutch admiral, Haan, 
and rear-admiral Van Middellandt and the Spanish 
admiral, De Ibarra, were killed or drowned in at- 
tempting to escape from their burning ships. The 
Steenherg and the Capitane blew up with a fearful 
explosion, and covered the bay and the neighboring 
ships with the burning debris. As the confusion 
of the mel^e increased, and the flames spread from 
ship to ship, consternation seized the allies. Struck 
with terror, Dutch and Spaniards fled for refuge 
behind the mole, and, amid fearful ravages, at- 



CONQUEST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN 141 



tempted to escape from the burning balls and 
grenades which fell in showers on the city of 

Palermo. 

The victory was brilliant and complete. The 
French were masters of the Mediterranean. Spain 
could no longer be counted as a great naval power, 
and the navy of Holland had been so reduced, 
and its strong leaders so decimated, that there was 
little hope of its reconstruction. 

A short while after the decisive victory of 
Palermo, Tourville was taken seriously ill, and 
after struggling against a congestion of the lungs 
for some weeks, he yielded to the importunities 
of his friends and asked the minister of marine 
for leave of absence. We find him at this time 
generous to appreciate his inferiors, warm in his 
enthusiasm for his chief Du Quesne, just and out- 
spoken in his judgment on the misconduct of even 
his superiors, rising above every motive of self- 
interest and personal gain ; devoted in his patri- 
otism and earnest in his desire to serve his country 
to the utmost of his powers. While his equals in 
birth and rank chafed and rebelled under the severe 
discipline, and were quick to criticise the rough 
manners, the boorishness, and difficult humor of 
Admiral Du Quesne, who was a plebeian by birth 
and a sailor by fortune, the aristocrat Tourville was 
always prompt to second his chief and to value him 
at his true worth. With these generous qualities 
of mind and heart, he was by no means indifferent 



142 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

to the glory of renown and advancement. In his 
letter to the minister of marine, in which he is 
finally forced to admit the necessity of rest, he 
adds that he is eager to return to the fleet at the 
first possible opportunity, and that he will endeavor 
not to die a commodore. 

About the first of February, 1677, Tourville re- 
turned to Toulon to oversee the equipment of the 
new ship that had been assigned him, the Mon- 
arque^ but no further action of note took place 
before the signing of the treaty of peace between 
France and the allies. 

Tlie famous treaty of Niraegue, signed on the 
10th of August, 1678, between Louis XIV on one 
side and half of Europe on the other, marked the 
beginning of that dazzling period of naval su- 
premacy which, during almost fifteen years, placed 
France, for once in her history, at the head of 
maritime nations. The flag of every people saluted 
the standard that floated proudly from the mast- 
head of the ships of France. 

Peace on the water highways brought activity 
and constructive energy in the dockyards. Col- 
bert and his son, the Marquis de Seignelay, who 
was to be his father's successor as minister of 
marine, projected vast improvements in harbor 
defences, roadstead facilities, in ship-building, and 
in fleet equipments. 

The total number of war-ships in the French 
navy at this period had risen to two hundred and 



CONQUEST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN 143 

nineteen classified vessels of all kinds, including 
one hundred and twenty ships of the line ; besides 
these there were a large number of small unclassi- 
fied craft which brought the list up to almost a 
thousand. But numbers were not all. Colbert's 
chief aim was progress and perfection in construc- 
tion. At Versailles, under his e3^es and those of 
the king, Tourville directed, in 1678, the building 
of a frigate according to a new design, a great im- 
provement on the old, and even an advance on the 
British model. It was light, but was heavily armed. 
Merchant marine as well as military marine, com- 
merce as well as war, received the careful attention 
of Colbert, and the next few years were devoted to 
strengthening the entire naval department. 

Action on the waters, however, was soon to 
recommence. The commerce of Europe was 
again endangered by the piratical excursions of 
the Barbary Corsairs. To strike a severe blow to 
these enemies of trade, it was necessary to attack 
them in their main retreat. Algiers was the chief 
lair of the sea robbers. There they led their cap- 
tured prizes, and fortified themselves in its ample 
harbor. There thousands of Christian captives 
languished in prison or in servitude. To maim or 
destroy this centre of piracy was the next project 
of Louis XIV. 

The beautiful African city was to suffer a fear- 
ful punishment for the audacity of her buccaneer 
rulers. In the summer of 1682, and again in 1683, 



144 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

a French fleet under Du Quesne and Tourville 
sailed into the harbor of Algiers, and among the 
heavy ships of the line could be seen for the first 
time several newly invented, small, flat-bottomed, 
bomb galiots, each of which carried two mortars 
and four guns. 

Shells fell like rain upon the roofs of the city. 
Day and night the mortars plied their deadly 
missiles, and every minute a burning bomb swept 
through the air and exploded in the streets, doing 
fearful damage. Palaces and mosques fell in a 
mass of ruins ; storehouses were destroyed, and 
houses crumbled to the ground. The city was a 
scene of wild confusion and disorder. Tourville, 
now lieutenant-general (vice-admiral), always at 
the post of danger, and first in every perilous enter- 
prise, came and went in a small boat under an 
incessant fire from the forts to watch the work of 
the mortars. 

Algiers sued for peace, but Du Quesne refused 
to listen to any overtures until all the French 
prisoners had been released from bondage. For 
five days there was silence on the bay and a respite 
in the city, while boat after boat came and went 
between the shore and the fleet. Seven hundred 
Christian slaves were restored to liberty. When 
the people of Algiers finally surrendered at dis- 
cretion, and Tourville dictated the conditions of a 
treaty of peace, thirty-five hundred shells had 
levelled their city to the ground. 



CONQUEST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN 145 

The famous peace of Nimegue did not long 
prevent a resumption of hostilities in Europe. 
Louis XIV and Charles II of Spain had not been 
able to reach an agreement on the question of 
concessions, and the Spanish king refused to give 
up certain possessions that had been included 
in the treaty. The misunderstandings between 
France and Spain had brought them to the verge 
of rupture, when the city of Genoa had the 
audacity or the imprudence to break her bond of 
neutrality, and not only to seek the protection of 
Spain, but to send several ships to her assistance. 
This open defiance of the power of the great mon- 
arch could not fail to provoke his ire. A fleet 
was at once ordered to sail from Mediterranean 
ports and to appear before Genoa. On the 17th of 
May, 1684, Du Quesne and Tourville arrived be- 
fore the fair Italian city with a fleet of fourteen 
ships of the line, nineteen galleys, and ten mortar- 
boats. Then began a repetition of the scenes at 
Algiers. A storm of burning shells was hurled 
from the French mortars. More than thirteen 
thousand bombs poured upon the beautiful churches 
and palaces. The treasury, the arsenal, the store- 
houses, the docks, were completely destroyed. 

Two land attacks were made, and Tourville, 
under a galling fire, led one of the detachments 
against the fort of San Pier d' Arena. The fort 
was carried, the walls razed to the ground, the 
whole suburb was captured and burned. Genoa 



146 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

finally surrendered when her streets were mounds 
of wreckage and her inhabitants had reached the 
furthest limits of endurance. 

Although Algiers had been punished and driven 
to submission, the Corsairs of Tripoli still swept 
the Mediterranean with their pirate galleys and 
carried off rich prizes and costly cargoes. Louis 
XIV could brook no defiance of his power, and 
Tripoli was condemned to the same revenge that 
had laid her sister city in ruins. A French fleet 
under Du Quesne and Tourville dropped anchor 
in front of the rebellious nest of buccaneers. 

Tourville, to whose lot fell every hazardous un- 
dertaking, crept noiselessly into the harbor in a 
small boat, sounding as he went. Under the very 
shadow of the walls of Tripoli his little boat sped 
stealthily, passing from end to end of the bay. 
After a thorough examination of the port, and 
having found the best anchorage for the fleet, he 
returned without mishap, and on the following 
day the French ships were moored one mile from 
the city. 

The entire charge of the operations was in- 
trusted to Tourville. Night after night the fiery 
shells rained upon the bastions and the streets 
of Tripoli. Silence wrapped the city, and no 
sound was heard save the dull roar of the mortars 
and the deafening explosion of the bombs. But at 
last popular feeling was roused, and a cry went up 
for submission. Thus, in succession, the rebellious 



CONQUEST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN 147 

cities of the Mediterranean were made to feel the 
implacable and iron power of the great monarch. 

Tourville soon found himself greatly advanced 
in rank and influence. In 1689 he left the Order 
of Malta and was appointed vice-admiral of the 
Levant. The death of Du Quesne, in 1688, had 
raised him to the head of the navy, and a few 
years later he was given supreme command as 
marshal of France. This rapid promotion was 
due partly to his unquestioned ability and partly 
to the fact that he was thoroughly in sympathy 
with the policy of Seignelay, the minister of 
marine, and had been an active agent in carrying 
out that policy with brilliant and marked success. 
The Marquis de Seignelay, son of Colbert, the 
founder of the French navy, had devoted himself 
heart and soul to the great ambition of his life — 
that of making the French navy supreme in the 
waters of the Mediterranean. What Colbert and 
Seignelay planned, Du Quesne and Tourville ac- 
complished. For this end French squadrons had 
fought and vanquished the Corsairs, Spain, Italy, 
and Holland — every nation, in fact, whose pro- 
jects of naval extension and activity and whose in- 
terests in the Mediterranean interfered in any way 
with those of France. But the appetite for power 
grows with success, and, having realized his dreams 
of supremacy in the Mediterranean, Seignelay now 
meditated equal preponderance in the waters of 
the Atlantic. 



148 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

Since 1672, when at Solebay the French and 
British fought together against the Dutch, there 
had been a reversal in European politics. A revo- 
lution in England had deposed the Catholic king, 
James II, and brought over from across the Chan- 
nel William of Orange as temporary sovereign. 
Protestant Britain and Holland were therefore 
united by bonds of the closest alliance, in both re- 
ligion and government. At this juncture Louis 
XIV espoused the cause of James, who had fled 
to France and was working for his own restoration 
to the British throne. The war which was de- 
clared in 1690 opened as a duel between the 
Catholic king, Louis XIV, as the supporter of 
James, and the Protestant king, William of 
Orange, as the representative of the Established 
Church of England. It ended in a coalition of 
Europe against the overweening ambition of 
France, or rather against the dynastic ambition 
of the French crown. 



CHAPTER XIII 

FRANCE SUPREME ON THE WAVES 

The interest of this war centres on the waters 
of the English Channel and in the great battle of 
Beachy Head, which forms the apogee of the short 
but dazzling triumph of the French navy. For a 
moment in history France won the supremacy of 
the seas. It was but a moment, and one that 
never returned. It came appropriately to increase 
the splendor of the reign of Louis XIV. It was 
in itself a superficial triumph dependent upon the 
energy, strong will, and well-conceived plans of 
Seignelay, and upon the courage and ability of 
Tourville. 

On a day in June, 1690, from the seaport town 
of Brest, the combined French squadrons, under 
Tourville as commander-in-chief, crossed the Chan- 
nel to the Lizard and passed along the coasts of 
Devonshire and Dorsetshire. As the fleet kept 
close to the shore, the British soldiers standing 
on the ramparts of Plymouth could easily watch 
the ships of France. Seventy men-of-war, many 
carrying more than fifty guns, led by the Soleil 
Royal^ the admiral's flag-ship, went slowly on in 
149 



150 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

quest of the British fleet. The ships of Great Brit- 
ain lay in the Downs. The Dutch contingent had 
joined them. Admiral Herbert, Lord Torrington, 
a man of great personal courage but of wilful and 
obstinate temper and of jealous disposition, had 
been placed at the head of the combined squadrons. 
It was near the rocks of the Isle of Wight that the 
hostile fleets took up their positions. The allies 
were inferior in numbers, having fifty-nine ships 
of the line beside fifty-three lesser vessels ; but the 
combination of the two greatest naval powers of 
Europe was supposed to outweigh in quality what 
it lacked in quantity. 

It was therefore to the dismay of the central 
government that Admiral Torrington began a re- 
treating movement toward the Straits of Dover. 
Scarcely had he reached Beachy Head, halfway to 
the Straits, when he received orders from head- 
quarters to fight the enemy. Tourville, on his 
side, had also been instructed to find the British 
fleet and destroy it. On both sides there was no 
alternative but obedience. Yet both of the hostile 
admirals disapproved of the decision of their gov- 
ernments, and the difference in the character of 
the two men came out at this juncture. Tour- 
ville overcame his annoyance, and, putting the 
love of country first, decided to fight his best at 
any cost. Torrington carried his self-love and 
resentment into battle, and, while the " fate of 
three kingdoms" hung on his conduct, he held 



FRAXCE SUPREME ON THE WAVES 151 

aloof from the engagement, keeping only within 
long range and leaving the Dutch squadron un- 
supported. 

Under Admiral Evertsen the brave Hollanders, 
who had been placed in the van and given the 
signal to engage, bore down full sail upon the 
French vanguard. Even the contemporary records 
of France give testimony to the gallant stand of 
the Dutch squadron and the courage with which 
they upheld the honor of their country. Caught 
between the fire of the French vanguard and of 
the centre commanded by Tourville, they bore for 
eight hours the ceaseless and violent cannonading 
that swept away their masts and rigging and did 
deadly work among the men. At last the unequal 
contest ended in the complete annihilation of the 
Dutch squadron. The mutilated ships ran aground 
on the coast and were burned by the enemy. Fif- 
teen vessels were sunk or blown up, and of these 
only two were British. Torrington, after basely 
leaving his allies to their fate, gave the signal for 
retreat, and as darkness came to cover his move- 
ments he fled with his ships along the coast of 
Kent and took refuge in the Thames, pulling up 
the buoys as he went and putting out the beacons 
along the banks, thus making it impossible for the 
French, who were without pilots, to follow in 
pursuit. 

The day of Tourville's victory was a day of sor- 
row and ignominy for London. Terror spread 



152 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

throughout the city. The danger of invasion and 
revolution grew hourly more alarming. If Tour- 
ville's professional daring had been equal to his 
personal courage, he would now have taken greater 
risks and won larger triumphs. Braving the shoals 
of the Thames, he would have set fire to the ship- 
ping and destroyed the remnants of the enemy's 
fleet. Then London itself would have been at his 
mercy. But while he was fearless in danger, he 
was cautious under responsibility, and this pru- 
dence brought upon him severe criticism. He was 
called by Seignelay, "brave of heart, coward of 
head." 

The impetuous minister of marine was impatient 
for an invasion of the Thames. He had also made 
extensive plans for a series of descents upon the 
ports on the southern and western shores of Eng- 
land and along the coast of Ireland on St. George's 
Channel, for the purpose of burning and destroying 
the shipping. He now tried to urge Tourville into 
more energetic measures, but the commander-in- 
chief contented himself with ranging the Channel 
and burning the little maritime town of Teign- 
mouth. The sight of the French ships under their 
very cliffs roused the entire population from end 
to end of Devonshire, of Dorsetshire, and Sussex. 
In twenty-four hours thousands of raw recruits had 
assembled, forming a tumultuous but enthusiastic 
army, ready to defend their shores at all odds. 
Tourville was soon persuaded that an attempt on 



FRANCE SUPREME ON THE WAVES 153 



the coast would be useless, and, standing out to 
sea, he turned his fleet toward France. 

This had been in July. In the next November 
Seignelay died, and with him passed away the 
short-lived glory of the French navy. His suc- 
cessor, Fontchartrain, was a man ignorant, incom- 
petent, and injudicious. A faulty administration 
soon brought about the defeat and decline of the 
marine which had given so fair a promise under 
the two Colberts. The first and most disastrous 
result of this change at headquarters was the terri- 
ble defeat of La Hogue. 

In 1692 a new descent on Great Britain was pro- 
jected by Louis XIV and James II. It was to be 
the final blow to the throne of William of Orange. 
The entire winter was spent in preparations. A 
large army of thirty thousand men, encamped on 
the coast of Normandy, was in readiness for James 
to place himself at its head. Five hundred trans- 
ports lay at Cherbourg and Havre to carry the 
troops across the Channel and effect a landing on 
the coast of England. Tourville, commanding the 
Atlantic squadron of fifty ships of the line, had 
orders to leave Brest and protect the transporta- 
tion of the troops ; then, after having been reen- 
forced by the squadron of the Mediterranean, to 
engage the enemy wherever and whatever he might 
be. The utmost confidence was felt in the success 
of the enterprise. A large part of the British 
fleet, it was expected, would desert to King James, 



154 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

and it was also hoped that a great body of the 
people would rally around their former sovereign 
when once he had set foot on British soil. The 
restoration of the Stuart dynasty seemed a matter 
of certainty. Theoretically the plans were good. 
Practically they were brought to naught by bad 
weather, the activity of the allies, and the obstinacy 
of the French minister. 

The French squadron of the Mediterranean was 
imprisoned in the Straits of Gibraltar by a severe 
tempest, and never reached the scene of action. 
Tourville was detained by contrary winds at Brest. 
Meanwhile, unknown to the French government, 
a Dutch squadron of thirty-six ships of the line 
had appeared in the Downs and effected a 
junction with the British. It was the most 
powerful fleet ever assembled in the Channel — 
almost a hundred war-ships, manned by forty 
thousand men, and carrying more than seven 
thousand guns. The whole of this force was 
under the command of Admiral Russell, who 
had received orders from the government to 
find and fight the enemy. On the 17th of May, 
1692, this great armament headed for the French 
coast. 

Tourville, with a squadron of only forty ships 
and twenty thousand men, had already left Brest 
and was on his way to La Hogue to escort the 
transports. The two armaments came in sight of 
each other off the Cape of Barfleur. The dispro- 



FRANCE SUPREME ON THE WAVES 155 

portion in numbers was immense. The French 
counted less than one-half in vessels, men, and 
guns. It seemed madness to engage the enemy. 
But Tourville had received orders to fight, and 
he obeyed. He had been allowed no freedom of 
action, and besides he did not wish to lay himself 
open again to the charge of overcaution. At 
noon, on the 17th of May, the two fleets were 
formed in line of battle, and the French bore 
down full sail on the long stretch of the enemy's 
armament with a daring which surprised even 
the allies. 

From the first the Soleil Royal^ Tourville's flag- 
ship, engaged the Britannia^ from whose masthead 
the flag of Admiral Russell was flying. The duel 
between the two vessels was long and desperate. 
The guns were equal, but it soon became evident 
that the men behind the guns were superior on 
the side of the British, the aim was surer, the 
service faster, the guns in better condition. But 
Tourville fought daringly and well, and the 
gallant old Soleil Royal^ the finest vessel in 
the world, after upholding the honor of the 
white flag with a courage and tenacity acknowl- 
edged even by his opponents, surrounded by six 
vessels of the enemy and sustaining a galling fire, 
was towed off at sunset like a great wounded 
giant, and the admiral's colors were transferred to 
the Amhitieux. For five hours the struggle went 
on. The British lost two vessels, the French not 



156 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

one. Then, when night fell, under cover of a fog, 
the French spread their sails and retreated for 
shelter to the coast. 

Thus far it had been an honorable defeat. The 
French had engaged an adversary of more than 
double their strength and had not lost a ship. 
Had there been a Thames behind him, Tourville 
could have saved his fleet, and the glory would 
have almost equalled that of a victory. But along 
that entire coast there was not a naval port where 
he could find refuge. So the retreat turned into a 
flight, and the whole fleet of the enemy followed 
in hot pursuit. The smaller French vessels made 
for the treacherous Race of Alderney, between the 
Channel Isles and the French coast, where shoals 
and rocks and boiling eddies made shipwreck 
almost certain. It was the plunge of despair, 
but the twenty ships that took it reached St. Malo 
uninjured, and the British dared not follow on ] 
the dangerous trail. 

The larger vessels, among them the Soleil Royal 
and the Ambitieux^ headed for Cherbourg and 
La Hogue, where they were run aground on the 
beach and dismantled. There the British chased 
them to their very sands, and set fire to the un- 
rigged and anchorless hulks. Fourteen were 
burned, and for miles the coast was illumined 
by the flames under the very eyes of James II. 

The cause of the British king was lost ; but, 
more important still for France, the supremacy 



FRANCE SUPREME ON THE WAVES 157 



of the sea passed from her grasp, never to return. 
Still the French navy was not annihilated. It 
had wonderful recuperative power. The famous 
privateers of St. Malo and Dunkirk, Jean Bart 
and his confederates, infested the Channel and 
captured several thousand of the British mer- 
chantmen. A year after La Hogue, Tourville 
showed England that she was not yet undisputed 
" mistress of the sea." The French fleet, with sur- 
prising alacrity, had been rebuilt and refitted. 
France still took the palm for speed in construc- 
tion. Almost a hundred ships of the line were 
ready to take the sea. 

Tourville, at the head of this fleet, slipped un- 
noticed from the road of Brest and, passing along 
the coast of Portugal, lay in hiding in the bay of 
Lagos. He was determined to revenge La Hogue, 
and his prey was to be the immense Smyrna fleet 
of merchantmen bound for the Mediterranean. 
This fleet, the largest ever gathered in British 
waters, lay at Portsmouth waiting for her Anglo- 
Dutch escort. There were British, Dutch, and 
Flemish merchant ships bound for the marts of the 
I^evant — four hundred sail in all, a dense forest 
of masts and rigging. In May, 1693, they stood 
out to sea on their way to the Straits of Gibraltar. 
Tourville was supposed to be lying at Brest, and 
the larger part of the Anglo-Dutch escort anchored 
off the island of Ushant to prevent him from com- 
ing out and attacking either the British coast or 



158 MARSHAL DE TOURVILLE 

the merchant fleet. Little did they dream that 
they were guarding an empty harbor. 

In June the Smyrna fleet reached the southern 
point of Portugal. As it rounded Cape St. Vin- 
cent, Tourville sailed out of Lagos Bay. The 
surprise was complete. Admiral Rooke, at the 
head of the small escort squadron, retreated hur- 
riedly to the open sea. The merchant fleet was 
abandoned to its fate. Ship after ship was burned 
by the French. The whole sea was wrapped in 
flames. A part of the merchantmen fled to Cadiz, 
others attempted to pass through the Straits. 
Tourville followed even as far as Gibraltar and 
Malaga, and completed the work of destruction. 
A hundred ships paid the penalty of the French- 
man's revenge. This blow to British and Dutch 
commerce was deep and far-reaching. They had 
expected large profits ; they had reaped enormous 
losses. And the hurt to their pride was no less 
great. The large escort fleet that had watched | 
outside the empty harbor of Brest, while cargoes 
worth millions of pounds sterling were being de- 
stroyed by the enemy, was received with jeers on 
its return to England. 

This fearful reprisal was almost the last of the 
notable services that Tourville rendered to France. 
The cautious policy of Pontchartrain replaced 
great naval battles by privateering and attacks 
on the enemy's trade, and the broader powers of 
the hero of Beachy Head were left without scope. 



FRANCE SUPREME ON THE WAVES 159 

He continued to serve in the Mediterranean, but 
we do not hear of him in any important enter- 
prise. After the famous peace of Ryswick, in 
1697, he was obliged, by ill health, to retire for 
a time from active service and live on his own 
estates. When the war of the Spanish succession 
broke out in 1700, he was made commander-in- 
chief of the joint naval forces of France and 
Spain in the Mediterranean ; but his death in 
1701 followed close upon his new appointment. 
Tourville's knowledge of the sea extended over 
a wide field ; he was familiar with every detail of 
his profession. He was able as a tactician, he 
added to the art of signalling, and naval science 
owed to him a regular corpus of the principles of 
tactics. He was the greatest, with the exception 
of Suffren, and undoubtedly the most brilliant of 
the admirals of France ; and it was his good for- 
tune to have been at the head of the French navy 
at the moment of its supremacy. 



I 



VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUPFREN 
SAINT-TROPEZ 

1726-1788 



I 



4 



♦ 



VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 
SAINT-TROPEZ 

CHAPTER XIV 

THE SCHOOLING OF A SEAMAN 

If greatness were measured by the rule of suc- 
cess and brilliant achievement, Suffren could not 
lay claim to his acknowledged title of being the 
most distinguished seaman of France. He won 
no world-famed victory, and for this reason, per- 
haps, his name has been less widely known out- 
side the limits of his own country than that of any 
other illustrious naval commander in history. No 
dazzling results crowned his active career as a 
fighter, yet in genius, skill, resolution, practical 
knowledge, and clear judgment he was unsur- 
passed by any officer in the French navy. His 
power was greater than his performance, and this 
because he was forced to work with imperfect tools 
and to struggle not only against material obstacles, 
but against moral opposition and an incomplete 
destiny. His career lacked the grouping of every 
element of success ; circumstances, instead of being 
his allies, were his foes. That he accomplished 
163 



164 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

so much in the face of the heavy handicap of for- j 
tune is the proof of his genius. j 

Early in the eighteenth century the noble French f 
family of Suffren lived in the castle of St. Can- 
nat on their ancestral estate in Provence. The 
Marquis de Suffren had several sons, the youngest J 
of whom, Pierre Andr^, was to be later known as I 
the Bailli de Suffren Saint-Tropez. Pierre Andr^, * 
who was born in 1726, was early destined to enter 
the French navy and the Order of St. John of Jeru- 
salem, an accepted career for many of the younger 
sons of noble French families. When he was seven- 
teen he was admitted to the service of King Louis 
XV, and was sent to Toulon for his naval schooling. 

Suffren had entered upon the stage at a period 
of almost uninterrupted ferment and hostile activ- ( 
ity in European politics. It was a time when the 
training of future officers was not carried on delib- 
erately and systematically in the interesting retreat 
of a naval academy. It was won by experience on 
the decks of men-of-war among the rude chances 
of actual battle. Thrown almost at once into the 
midst of active service, Pierre Andr^ learned the 
rudiments of the seaman's calling as a cadet on 
board the Solide^ a 64-gun ship, one of the 
Toulon fleet. His chief. La Bruyere de Court, was 
the first to fly his flag in the war of 1744, between 
France and Great Britain, and under him Suffren 
took part in the action off Toulon against Admiral 
Matthews. 



THE SCHOOLING OF A SEAMAN 165 

His second naval experience in the same year 
was an exciting one — the notorious duel between 
the Mars and the Northumberland^ off the Scilly 
Isles. Swept by the artillery of the Mars, her 
machinery riddled, her rigging torn, her captain 
wounded, and two-thirds of her crew killed, the 
Northumberland finally surrendered, and was car- 
ried in triumph to Brest. This first year of Suf- 
fren's sea service closed off Martinique, in the 
Caribbean Sea, where he took part on the Pau- 
line in the action between Captain Macnamara 
and four British men-of-war. 

Suffren's career had opened in the heat of 
battle ; it was to continue through a long future 
of almost uninterrupted activity on the sea. Dur- 
ing the next forty-four years he was to fight on 
high and narrow seas, from the Mediterranean to 
the Atlantic, from the Caribbean Sea to the Indian 
Ocean. His wide range of experience was to carry 
him from the shores of France to those of Canada, 
from Morocco to the West Indies, from Malta to 
the United States, from South Africa to India. 

In 1746 Suffren was exchanged to the Trident, 
one of a squadron of seven ships of the line and 
three frigates under the command of the Duke 
d'Anville. Early in June this little squadron put 
to sea with secret orders to sail for Cape Breton 
and recapture the French settlement that had 
fallen into the hands of the British. But mis- 
fortune followed the expedition from the start. 



166 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 



i 



The squadron lacked water and fresh provisions, j 
fierce winds and storms delayed her on her course, ' 
and a virulent scurvy devastated the crews. Al- 
though Nova Scotia was finally reached, all attempt 
against Cape Breton was renounced, and the squad- 
ron headed for home ports. But British ships were 
cruising in the waters of the Atlantic, and many 
of the unfortunate Frenchmen fell a prey to their 
foes. One by one the remnant found their way 
across the ocean, buffeted by the winds, harassed 
by the enemy's ships, and scattered over the waters. 
Among the few that returned to France in safety 
was Suffren's ship, the Trident. 

In the following year, 1747, Suffren was ad- 
vanced to the rank of ensign, and transferred to ! 
the Monarque, a 74-gun ship in the squadron of | 
Commodore I'Etenduere. France at this time was 
sending out frequent convoys of merchandise to 
her colonies in the West Indies under the protec- 
tion of small squadrons of men-of-war. It fell to 
the lot of L'Etenduere to act as escort, with his 
eight ships of the line and two frigates, to one of 
these large merchant fleets. The merchantmen, 
numbering two hundred and fifty-two sail, put to 
sea in the month of October, from the Straits of La 
Rochelle. But a British fleet of fourteen ships 
of the line, three frigates, and three fire-ships, under 
Rear-admiral Hawke, was lying off Cape Finis- 
terre in waiting for the long line of richly laden 
vessels. Allowing them to pass ahead, the British 



THE SCHOOLING OF A SEAMAN 167 

admiral then followed in hot pursuit, and fell upon 
their unprotected rear. 

L'Etenduere at once ordered his convoy to hoist 
all sail and fly before the enemy, while he gath- 
ered together his ships, and made signal to form 
in line of battle and open fire. The odds were 
heavy against him, more than double in favor of 
the British. His flag-ship was almost immediately 
surrounded by six of his opponent's vessels, and 
on all quarters the battle raged furiously. Four of 
the French rearguard, among them the Mo7iarque, 
fought desperately against several opponents, and 
after four hours of obstinate resistance, raked fore 
and aft, dismasted and shattered, their captains 
killed or wounded, they were forced to surrender. 
Suffren, who had fought throughout the battle 
with conspicuous coolness and bravery, thus found 
himself a prisoner in the hands of the enemy. 

But his captivity was not a long one. He was 
exchanged after a few months, and returned to 
France shortly before the treaty of peace of Aix- 
la-Chapelle, which was signed in October, 1748. 
His services being no longer needed at home, he 
took advantage of the cessation of hostilities to go 
to Malta, where he was received as a knight of 
the Order of St. John. During the next six years 
he took part in the obligatory cruises of the 
knights against their hereditary enemies, the 
African and Turkish pirates, who constantly in- 
fested the waters of the Mediterranean. 



168 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 



France and Great Britain, although nominally 
at peace, had continued in an illegal and piratical 
way to annoy and injure each other's trade. Re- 
prisals and unauthorized attacks continued in 
growing force until the year 1756, when a formal 
declaration of war between the two countries re- 
opened regular hostilities. Suffren, who had re- 
turned to France the year before, and had been 
raised to the rank of lieutenant, was among the 
first to take part in the new campaign. 

French dockyards were teeming with activity ; 
fifteen new ships of war were built and armed with 
marvellous rapidity, and the ocean ports swarmed 
with troops. The present object of French enter- 
prise was an island in the Mediterranean, the key 
to Toulon. 

The island of Minorca — a sentinel of British 
commerce on the highway to the Levant — formed 
a convenient arsenal and coaling station for Brit- 
ish ships. Its possession was of inestimable value 
to Great Britain and a constant menace to France. 
The expedition planned by the French govern- 
ment was, therefore, of no small importance to 
her naval interests. From the islands of Hyeres 
a French fleet of twelve ships of the line, five 
frigates, and a hundred and fifty transports set 
sail on the 12th of April, 1756. La Galissoniere 
commanded the expedition, and Suffren as lieuten- 
ant served on one of the smaller ships of the line, 
the Orphee, of sixty-four guns. 



THE SCHOOLING OF A SEAMAN 169 

After a sail of five days La Galissoni^re, skil- 
fully evading a British squadron that had been 
sent to intercept him, reached the shores of Mi- 
norca and hurriedly landed the troops. Shortly 
after, when the British ships were signalled in 
the offing, he was prepared to meet the enemy. 
As the opposing vanguards opened fire, the 
French presented a strong and compact front that 
resisted with decision every effort to break it. 
The British ships, on the contrary, were swept 
fore and aft, and their guns soon silenced by the 
raking broadsides of Commodore Glandenez and 
his division. 

Confusion took possession of the British line. 
Admiral Byng strove to restore order and to 
close with the French rear, but he was unsup- 
ported by his division. Three of his disabled 
ships, in attempting to escape, became entangled 
in the flag-ship. La Galissoni^re's heavy broad- 
sides completed the rout; there was no choice 
except flight. 

Hoisting all sail, the remnants of Byng's shat- 
tered squadron headed for Gibraltar and took 
refuge under the guns of the fortress. The court- 
martial and execution of Admiral Byng, the cap- 
ture of Mahon, and conquest of the entire island 
of Minorca were the direct results of this naval 
victory. 

In the following year Suffren was transferred to 
the Ocean^ of eighty guns, the flag-ship of Com mo- 



170 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

dore de la Clue, and took part in the campaign of 
1758-1759, which proved so disastrous to French 
arms. 

Early in 1759 the government of Versailles 
made extensive plans for a descent upon the coast 
of Great Britain. Active preparations were made 
throughout the ports of France. Hundreds of 
flatboats were constructed for the transport of 
troops, forty battalions were collected in Brit- 
tany, another army corps camped at Dunkirk. 
Two fleets were formed, — one at Toulon under 
De la Clue, another at Brest under Vice-admiral 
Conflans. To prevent the junction of these fleets, | 
Admiral Boscawen had been ordered to blockade 
the Toulon force, but a sudden and violent storm 
drove his ships toward Gibraltar. De la Clue 
seized this opportunity to steal swiftly out of har- 
bor and to attempt the passage of the Straits. 
In the inky darkness of the night, under a driving 
wind, the Ocean led the way with her signal light 
at the stern. 

A part of De la Clue's squadron found its way 
through the narrow waters, but five of the French 
ships and three frigates had been swept by the 
terrific gale out of sight of the Ocean's beacon. 
At early dawn on the 17th of August, near Cape 
Santa Maria, De la Clue sighted the whole British 
fleet bearing down upon him, and rapidly gaining 
on his slow-sailing ships. With a force fourteen 
to seven the British admiral fell upon his adver- 



THE SCHOOLmG OF A SEAMAN 171 

sary. De la Clue made a vigorous but hopeless 
resistance. 

The duel between the two flag-ships was terrific. 
Boscawen threw himself with crowded sail upon 
his rival until within musket shot. His first broad- 
sides almost completely unrigged the Ocean, tore 
her sails to shreds, and cut her mainmast. But 
disabled as she was, she answered the attack 
bravely, and the unswerving aim of her fire left 
the masts, yards, and sails of the Englishman a mass 
of wreckage. Boscawen retreated in amazement 
and did not venture to renew the duel, but De la 
Clue's courageous defence was of no avail. Mor- 
tally wounded in the thigh, he left the command 
of his ship to Captain Carn^, and together with the 
few remnants of the squadron drifted toward 
Lagos on the coast of Portugal. Pursued, even 
under the guns of a neutral port, two of the French 
ships were captured and two others burned. 
Among the prisoners was Suffren, who, for the 
second time, found himself a British captive. 

Suffren was now thirty-three years of age. He 
had already spent sixteen of those years in almost 
uninterrupted sea service, he had been twice a 
prisoner, and he had fought in repeated engage- 
ments. Thus far his promotion had been slow, 
he was still only a lieutenant, but he was soon to 
rise more swiftly. We cannot follow in detail 
every step of this rise ; twenty years were to pass 
before he was to reach an independent command of 



1T2 VICE-ADMIRAL BE SUFFREN 



importance. Although no brilliant event marks 
this long period of his schooling, these years of 
preparation were of inestimable value in the train- 
ing of his ability and the formation of his char- 
acter. They were years full of varied incident; 
they gave him a proficiency that only practical 
experience could teach; they helped to develop 
that coolness under danger, that keenness of judg- 
ment, and that unswerving determination which 
later made him the hero of the Indian Ocean. 

Suffren had returned to France after his cap- 
tivity, but was given no new employ before the 
peace of 1763. He was then assigned to the com- 
mand of the Cameleon, a small vessel sent to 
cruise in the Mediterranean against the Algerine 
and Morocco pirates. In 1767 he received his 
commission as commander, and in 1772 one as 
captain. Four years of active work under the 
Maltese flag, which earned him the grade of com- 
mander in the Order of St. John, and several 
cruises in eastern waters as commander of the 
Mignonne and the Alcmene, filled the ten years 
between 1767 and 1777. 

Early in 1778 was signed at Versailles the mem- 
orable Treaty of Alliance that publicly recognized 
American independence and secured the support 
of France in our struggle for freedom. Two 
months later a French fleet under the command of 
Vice-admiral d'Estaing set sail from the harbor of 
Toulon. Its destination had been kept so com- 



THE SCHOOLING OF A SEAMAN 173 

plete a secret that not until it was flying under 
full sail across the Atlantic did Great Britain 
realize its true mission. Twelve ships of the line, 
of fifty to ninety guns, and five frigates were heading 
for America, and commanding the Fantasque^ a 64- 
gun ship, was Suffren, who had been appointed to 
her early in 1777. 

The object of the expedition was to assist, by a 
sudden and well-directed attack, in the destruction 
of British naval forces on the coast of North 
America ; but as far as the United States were con- 
cerned, it ended merely in a sympathetic demon- 
stration by the French fleet. D'Estaing had left 
Toulon on the 19th of April; hampered by two 
slow-sailing ships he was kept in mid-ocean for 
almost three months. When he reached the Dela- 
ware River, on the 7th of July, he found that 
Lord Howe had retreated to Sandy Hook and 
anchored his fleet in water too shallow for the 
large French ships to enter. D'Estaing, in the 
presence of his assembled captains, offered a 
reward of a hundred and fifty thousand francs to 
any American pilot who would lead his fleet into 
New York harbor. All refused to risk the passage 
of the bar. 

Disappointed in his hope of destroying the 
British fleet, D'Estaing sailed down the coast to 
Newport, where he was soon followed by Lord 
Howe. When the British admiral appeared in 
the offing, D'Estaing sailed out to meet him, but 



174 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

Howe evaded a combat, and a sudden squall sep- 
arated the adversaries. Foiled in his repeated 
attempts to fight the enemy, the French com- 
mander shaped his course northward and dropped 
anchor in the harbor of Boston. 

Appointed by Louis XVI military governor of 
the Windward Isles, in the Caribbean Sea, 
D'Estaing set sail for Martinique toward the close 
of 1778, and remained on that station for a year. 
After an unsuccessful attempt to recapture the 
island of Santa Lucia, that had fallen into the 
hands of the British, the French admiral deter- 
mined to make an attack on Grenada, one of the 
Windward group, where for sixteen years the 
British had been strongly intrenched. 

On the morning of the 2d of July, 1779, the 
French fleet, now numbering twenty-five ships of 
the line and fifteen frigates, appeared before the 
town and anchored above the forts. Sixteen 
hundred troops were at once landed and prepara- 
tions made to storm the two powerful forts that 
protected the town and the roadstead. At eleven 
o'clock at night, under a heavy fire, three French 
columns made an impetuous assault, carried the 
palisade, climbed the precipitous cliff, forced the bar- 
ricades, captured the batteries, cut down the Brit- 
ish flag, and ran up the white standard of France. 
This had been the Avork of two hours. When the 
light of morning dawned, D'Estaing ordered one 
of the British guns on the Hospital cliff to be 



THE SCHOOLING OF A SEAMAN 175 

turned onto Fort Royal. The first shot brought 
an offer to capitulate from Lord Macartney, gov- 
ernor of Grenada, and within a few hours the 
whole British garrison surrendered at discretion. 

On the day following this brilliant capture, news 
came to D'Estaing of the approach of Admiral 
Byron, and on the morning of the 6th of July the 
entire British fleet were seen bearing down under 
press of sail. The French promptly formed in 
line of battle to receive the shock of the attack. 
The Fantasque found herself at the rear, but Suf- 
fren with skilful celerity passed to the head of the 
line and became the leading ship. In this position 
he received, for more than an hour, the full brunt 
of the broadsides from twenty-one British men-of- 
war. When the enemy had passed ahead of the 
Fantasque^ Suffren returned to his post in the line 
of battle and for the second time exposed himself 
to the galling fire of the opposing line. His ves- 
sel was fearfully damaged, masts and sails were 
cut and rent, many of the crew were wounded, 
but his well-directed fire still swept the enemy's 
decks. The British suffered heavy losses. As 
night closed in. Admiral Byron retired from the 
scene of action, and the French cast anchor in the 
road of Grenada. 

On Suffren's return from the Caribbean Sea he 
was received in France with every mark of esteem 
and appreciation, and being appointed to the Zele^ 
a 74-gun ship, he joined early in 1780 the com- 



176 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 



1 



bined Franco-Spanish fleet cruising off Cadiz. L 
On the 9th of August, near Cape St. Vincent, 
the allies fell in with a large and valuable British 
convoy, under the escort of Captain Moutray. 
The swift attack, the pursuit, the capture, was the 
work of a few hours. Suffren alone took twelve 
British prizes, and was the first to lead in the 
chase of Captain Moutray. But the fast-sailing 
British frigates and the ship Ramillies kept far 
ahead of their pursuers, and Suffren was finally 
forced to give up the race. The capture of almost 
the entire British convoy was, however, an ample 
reward to the French and a severe blow to their 
opponents. 



CHAPTER XV 
ON THE INDIAN OCEAN 

The past had been preparation and slow pro- 
motion : thirty-seven years of subordinate service. 
The future was to be achievement and swift 
advance: seven years of independent command. 
On these seven years rests the fame of Suffren. 

In 1781 Suffren was appointed to the Heros, a 
74-gun ship, and was placed in command of five 
ships of the line and a number of transports, bound 
for the Cape of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean. 

Early in the year the French government had 
learned, through secret agencies, of a proposed 
attack by the British on the Dutch settlement 
at the Cape. Commodore Johnstone had been in- 
trusted with the mission of taking possession of 
the colony, and was about to make sail from Ports- 
mouth harbor with five ships and a convoy of 
troops under his command. Suffren received 
orders to sail simultaneously from Brest to warn 
and assist the Dutch, and if possible to reach the 
Cape in advance of his rival. It so happened that 
Johnstone had a start of several days, for Suffren 
could not sail until the 22d of March, and even 
177 



178 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

then he was burdened by a hirge number of sick 
among his crews. After a run of about three 
weeks the Cape Verd Islands were sighted. One 
of the French ships, the Artesien, needing water, 
Suffren decided to take the whole squadron into 
Port Praya, and revictual with fresh provisions, 
of which he was in great want. 

At dawn, on the morning of the 16th of April, 
the French squadron was heading for St. Jago, 
when the Artesten ran up the signal, "Enemy's 
ships at anchor." This, then, was Johnstone's 
squadron, and the meeting was to take place 
before either of them had reached the Cape. 

For a moment Suffren weighed the chances and 
then decided on an immediate attack. It had the 
advantage of a surprise. The British ships were 
carelessly moored in the bay ; thoughtless of 
danger, a part of the men had been sent ashore for 
water and provisions. 

Having signalled his division to prepare for 
action, and the two belated ships, the Sphinx and 
the Vengeur^ to join him under press of sail, Suf- 
fren took the lead and stood into the bay. Soon 
the signal, " Enemy in sight," was flying from the 
masthead of one of the British ships, and the 
absent men were hastily recalled. " Up all ham- 
mocks " and " Heave anchor " came in quick 
succession, as Suffren's flag-ship the Heros bore 
down under full sail with reckless audacity. 
The French commander did not pause to see 



ON THE INDIAN OCEAN 179 

whether his division could follow him, and the 
Annihal alone succeeded in taking up a position 
in the midst of the enemy's line alongside his 
chief. The unfortunate Artesien became entangled 
in a transport and drifted out to sea. The Sphinx 
and the Vengeur never reached the scene of action. 
Two French ships thus found themselves alone 
and unsupported in the face of five British ships 
of the line, three frigates, a large number of trans- 
ports, and the forts of the town. 

Port Praya belonged to Portugal and was a 
neutral harbor. This had not deterred Suffren 
from acting on the offensive, for he remembered 
Lagos and was determined to repay the British 
for their own disregard of neutral rights. But, as 
an answer to his indifference or his audacity, the 
guns of the Portuguese batteries were turned upon 
him. Surrounded on all sides by the enemy, ex- 
posed to the fire of batteries ashore and afloat, the 
two devoted French ships were riddled with shot. 
Dismasted, with shrouds shot away, and rigging 
in hopeless disorder, they still kept their stand. 
After an heroic struggle Suffren saw the futility 
of continuing the fight without the support of his 
other ships, and, cutting his cables, he drifted out 
to sea with his consort. 

Commodore Johnstone, after a few hours, fol- 
lowed the retreating ships out of the bay. Suf- 
fren promptly formed in line of battle and waited 
for the enemy. But from timidity or indecision 



180 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

Johnstone hauled to the wind, and toward evening 
retreated to the bay. Suffren, with his damaged 
ships, hoisted sail for the Cape of Good Hope, the 
Annibal, entirely dismasted and as "bare as a hulk," 
being taken in tow by the Sphinx. 

On the 18th of June the French squadron doubled 
the Cape, and three days later cast anchor in Simon's 
Bay. Johnstone followed in their wake a month 
afterward, too late to attempt anything against 
the colony at the Cape. Warned by Suffren of 
their danger, the colonists had thrown up defences 
and strengthened the fortifications of the town. 
Johnstone, having failed in his mission, returned 
to England in June, and Suffren spread sail for 
the Isle de France with the pennant of commodore 
flying at his masthead. Before leaving France 
Suffren had received the order to assume acting 
rank as commodore after passing the Cape of Good 
Hope. When the news of his courageous action 
at Port Praya reached Paris, the minister of ma- 
rine sent him his commission as commodore ; but 
he failed to receive it until February, 1783, almost 
two years later, in the roadstead of Trincomalee. 

Since the beginning of the war with Great Britain 
French naval interests in the Indian Ocean had 
been left in lifeless and incompetent hands. There 
had been neither energ}^ nor understanding in the 
conduct of the campaign. During Captain Tron- 
jolly's command France had lost Pondicherry, the 
last of her possessions on the Indian coast. His 



ox THE IN^DIAN OCEAN 181 

successor, Count d'Orves, had accomplished noth- 
ing beyond a fruitless demonstration off Coro- 
mandel. A more audacious commander might 
have dealt a severe blow to Britain's power in 
Hindustan, for a grave peril was at that time 
threatening her from within. 

Hyder-Aly, the most powerful of the native 
chiefs and the implacable enemy of Great Britain, 
had led a successful rising in Bengal and along the 
coast of Malabar and Coromandel. Many of the 
principal towns in southern India had fallen before 
his victorious army. Crafty, warlike, and skilful, 
a keen politician as well as an energetic soldier, 
the nabob of Maissour planned nothing less than 
to chase the British from the whole of the Indian 
peninsula. The support of the French seemed to 
him the best furtherance of his project, and he was 
eager to secure their cooperation in a land attack 
on Pondicherry. But Commodore d'Orves urged 
the necessity of his immediate return to the Isle de 
France, and on the 31st of March, 1781, he again 
cast anchor in the roadstead of Port Louis. Seven 
months later Suffren stood into the harbor with his 
division, and a large supply of arms and provisions. 

The task of refitting Suffren's damaged squadron 
was carried on with a vigor and determination 
strange to the dilatory ways of the Indian station. 
The spirit of the new commander made itself felt 
throughout the fleet. By right of seniority Suffren 
held a position subordinate to that of Commodore 



182 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

d'Orves, but his bold initiative and force could not 
fail to influence his surroundings. In less than 
two months after his arrival the entire fleet weighed 
anchor and stood out to sea. Soon after leaving 
Port Louis the French ships, which now numbered 
eleven ships of the line and six smaller vessels, 
fell in with and captured a British man-of-war. 
The prize was manned with a French crew, and 
took its place in the fleet, thus bringing the num- 
ber of ships of the line up to twelve. 

Soon after this the command of the fleet fell to 
Suffren. For some time his chief had been suffer- 
ing from ill health, and on the 9th of February, in 
mid-sea, lie died, leaving the duties and responsi- 
bilities of commander to his younger and more 
resolute successor. Suffren, who had at last 
reached the position in which he could act inde- 
pendently, with his characteristic energy and deci- 
sion headed at once for Madras. 

On the 14th of February the lookout frigate, 
Fine^ signalled nine vessels of the enemy in the 
roadstead of Madras. Sir Edward Hughes lay at 
anchor with his fleet, strongly moored under the 
batteries of the forts. Contrary winds and the 
powerful position of the British ships discouraged 
Suffren from making the sudden attack that he 
had planned. Being seconded by his senior officers 
in his decision not to risk a battle, he made signal 
to hoist sail for Pondicherry, which had recently 
been captured by the natives. There it was his 



ON THE INDIAN OCEAN 183 

intention to land the troops from the transports 
and enter into relations with Hyder-Aly. 

Sailing southward along the coast, with his con- 
voy between the fleet and the shore, Suffren kept 
on his course throughout the night of the 16th of 
February. When the mists of the morning had 
cleared, the French commander saw with amaze- 
ment that Sir Edward Hughes had slipped out of 
harbor and had crept between the shore and the 
convoy. Already the British had seized several 
prizes and spread consternation among the trans- 
ports. Hastening to the rescue of his convoy, Suf- 
fren formed in line of battle and opened fire on the 
rear of the British. His dispositions were skil- 
fully made. He began the attack on the last Brit- 
ish vessel and carried it as far as the sixth, thus 
leaving three British vessels useless, and making 
it a contest of twelve against six. He had every 
right to expect a brilliant issue. 

Had all the captains of Suffren's fleet fought 
with the same determination as their chief, the 
battle would probably have ended in a decisive 
victory. But five out of the twelve senior officers 
— whether from irresolution or misunderstanding 
or from direct insubordination — failed to act with 
promptness and vigor. The signals from the flag- 
ship were disregarded, the order to take up positions 
within close range was not followed, and four of 
the ships kept at so great a distance from the centre 
of action that their futile shots never reached 



184 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

the enemy. The battle opened so late in the after- 
noon that Suffren could not correct the mistakes 
in the manoeuvres, and unsupported by a part of 
his fleet it was impossible for him to carry out 
his well-devised tactics. 

It was four o'clock when the Heros^ Suffren's 
flag-ship, led the attack, and for two hours and a 
half she poured a storm of shot into the enemy's 
vessels. Ably seconded by the Flamand and the 
Brillant^ she succeeded in doing severe damage 
to the British squadron. The Exeter was a mass 
of wreckage, " like a shipwrecked vessel," as 
Admiral Hughes expressed it ; the Superb was 
badly treated and had five feet of water in her 
hold. At half-past six o'clock, seeing that his 
orders were not carried out, and the variable winds 
of the Bay of Bengal having again turned against 
him, Suffren retired to long range, and kept up 
a distant cannonading until darkness covered the 
scene. 

That Suffren was discontented, and justly so, 
with his laggard captains is not surprising, since 
they lost him a victory. For a moment he had 
the thought of sending them back to France, 
but among the subalterns there would be no 
better men to fill the vacant places, and he was 
forced by circumstances to retain them. With 
De Tromelin, the senior captain, he was especially 
annoyed, for it was his duty to see that the orders 
from the flag-ship were executed. 



ON THE INDIAN OCEAN 185 



" Being at the head of the line," writes Suffren, 
" I could not see what was happening behind. I 
had instructed M. de Tromelin to make signals 
to the ships near him ; but all he did was to repeat 
my signals without seeing that they were carried 
out." This lack of concerted action in the fleet, 
the sullen opposition of a number of his senior 
officers, the cowardice of others, and the stupidity 
of most were some of the serious obstacles against 
which Suffren was to struggle throughout the 
whole of this campaign. 



CHAPTER XVI 

STRUGGLING AGAINST ODDS 

When Suffren drew his ships out of the fire on 
the evening of the 17th of February, it was with 
the intention of re-forming his line and renew- 
ing the fight on the following morning. But when 
light dawned the British had disappeared. Their 
ships had suffered too severely to attempt a second 
engagement, and Sir Edward Hughes had made 
sail for Trincomalee. The French, on their side, 
were in no condition to pursue the enemy. Suffren 
chose rather to continue his course to Pondicherry. 
Two days later he cast anchor in the harbor. 

It was important, at this juncture, to sound the 
feelings of Hyder-Aly, and, if possible, to win his 
close alliance. Without this alliance no serious 
action could be undertaken in the Bengal waters. 
The indifference and inability of former French 
commanders on the Oriental station had alienated 
the bellicose Indian chief. He had begun the 
campaign with ardor and with a sincere desire 
to aid the French. But the vacillation of his 
allies combined with British diplomacy had per- 
suaded him into a purely defensive attitude. The 

186 



STRUGGLING AGAINST ODDS 187 

British general was already winning victories over 
the native armies. Advantageous offers of peace 
were being offered the Sultan by the East India 
Company, and Hyder-Aly was on the point of 
accepting them. He had lost faith in the French, 
and had given up all thought of uniting their 
interests to his own. It was a critical moment 
in Indian affairs. Suffren was determined to win 
back the support of Hyder-Aly, and through him 
that of the weaker Indian princes. 

The fleet was moored at Porto-Novo, and a 
deputation was sent to the nabob to propose the 
terms of an agreement. Suffren's resolute attitude 
strengthened the waning friendship of Hyder-Aly, 
and the result of the conference was satisfac- 
tory. The French promised to land troops to re- 
enforce the Indian army, and in return the native 
chief agreed to consider this foreign army corps 
as a separate and independent body, to be main- 
tained at his expense. He also consented to supply 
the French fleet with provisions whenever it was 
anchored off the coast within reach of his camp, 
and to furnish Suffren with money to carry on the 
campaign. 

The French commander had shown himself a 
diplomat as well as a naval strategist. He had 
secured for himself the means of revictualling his 
fleet on a coast where the French possessed neither 
ports nor storehouses, and of wintering within reach 
of the enemy, instead of being forced by lack of 



188 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

provisions to return to the Isle de France. He 
could now turn his energies to repairing his 
damaged ships and seeking the British fleet, for 
he was firmly resolved not to leave the coast until 
he had again measured himself with his rival. 
Writing to the minister of marine, he says: — 

"I am firmly resolved not to leave the coast. 
Unless it is absolutely impossible for the squadron 
to remain, either from unfitness or lack of provi- 
sions, we shall not abandon the coast. I have 
promised the nabob this, and shall keep my word." 

He adds an appeal for more men, sailors for him- 
self, and soldiers for Hyder-Aly. " The fleet is 
short of almost six hundred men. I bought thirty 
Kaffirs at Tranquebar, and am trying to engage 
Lascars, but these are only makeshifts." 

Meanwhile the troops were landed and the worst 
damages to the ships repaired. On the 23d of 
March signal was made to weigh, and the fleet 
stood out to sea in search of the British. Head 
winds and changeable weather made a rapid sail 
to the south impossible, and not until the 8th of 
April was the island of Ceylon sighted. On the 
following morning the lookout frigates signalled 
eleven of the enemy's ships headed for Trincomalee. 

Sir Edward Hughes was not eager to engage. 
He wished first to land a large number of troops, 
and tried to evade the French. For two days 
Suffren strove to gain the wind, and Sir Edward 
to reach Trincomalee. But on the morning of the 



STRUGGLING AGAINST ODDS 189 

12th the French fast-sailers opened a distant 
cannonading on the rear of the British fleet. 
Admiral Hughes, now forced to fight, formed his 
line of battle and waited for the attack. His fleet 
had been increased by the arrival of the Sultan 
and the Magnanime^ thus bringing his ships to a 
number almost equal to that of the French. 

At one o'clock the battle opened. Suffren's flag- 
ship advanced with silent guns ; the enemy's broad- 
sides were unanswered as they swept her deck. 
As she came within close range of the Superb^ the 
British admiral's ship, the signal to open fire was 
run up to her masthead. The action became 
furious in the centre. Moving up the line the 
Reros turned her heavy fire into the Monmouth^ 
and brought down her main and mizzen masts. 
Suffren's ship had suffered severely, and he 
signalled to his consort ships, the Orient and the 
Brillant, to second him in the fight. The heat of 
the battle had fallen to the centre, around the two 
flag-ships and their consorts. Suffren's instructions 
had been imperfectly followed, and both the van- 
guard and the rear kept at long range. The French 
line of battle thus formed a convex curve. 

Toward four o'clock the battle lines fell into 
disorder, and signals for evolutions were made on 
both sides. The wind, which had been blowing 
from the northwest, passed into the north, and 
both fleets were carried inland into shoal water. 
The next hour was spent in manceuvring, the 



190 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

firing slackened, and a sudden calm followed by a 
squall separated the opposing lines. 

At eight o'clock Suffren, who had changed his 
flag from the damaged Heros to the Ajax^ signalled 
for the ships to anchor wherever they could. The 
shoal water and the darkness made manoeuvring 
dangerous, and Suffren feared for the safety of his 
vessels. The two fleets anchored so close together 
that voices from the nearest British ship could be 
distinctly heard on the deck of the HSros. The 
HSros was, in fact, surrounded by the enemy's 
fleet and found it difficult to distinguish between 
the signal guns of friend and foe. The rain 
was falling heavily, and the black sky covered 
the entire scene with a pall of darkness. Many 
accidents happened. The Fine^ which had been 
sent to bring the disabled Heros among her con- 
sorts, ran foul of the British Isis^ and M. de Goy, 
in attempting to reach Suffren's ship, hailed instead 
the British flag-ship and was made a prisoner. 

When morning dawned, the two fleets were 
lying at a distance of two miles from each other, 
each side busy in repairing damages. After five 
days the French had finished the most urgent 
work, and were ready to hoist sail. On the 18th 
they weighed, but for two days Suffren still kept 
within sight of the enemy, hoping that Sir Edward 
would accept battle. But the British admiral 
remained at his anchorage, where Suffren thought 
it unadvisable to follow him. 



STRUGGLING AGAINST ODDS 191 



The treacherous coral reefs, and his lack of men, 
ammunition, and all means of repairing damages, 
were to Suffren sufQcient reasons for not attempt- 
ing an attack. Besides, he says, "in such enter- 
prises the result is either total gain or complete 
loss ; " no drawn issue, only success or failure, and, 
as he adds somewhat bitterly, " the very hope of 
success, in such cases, must depend on ability and 
good will, and surely I have already tested these 
too severely to stake everything on them again." 
The audacity and faith in others as well as in him- 
self that had carried him headlong into Port Praya 
had, since then, been tempered by the mortifying 
discovery that, among his captains, personal antip- 
athy was a stronger lever than patriotism. Even 
poor ships and poor equipment were hindrances 
that could have been largely outweighed by a 
spirit of enthusiasm and single devotion. This 
moral handicap was one against which there was 

no redress. 

But the unflinching determination of Suffren 
could not be vanquished by any difficulty. With- 
out supplies of any kind, and without any definite 
prospect of obtaining them, he led his fleet to the 
bay of Batacolo, on the eastern coast of Ceylon. 
"Scurvy was making frightful ravages in the 
fleet," writes an eye-witness ; " the medicines had 
all been used," provisions were short, crews over- 
worked, materials exhausted, and the ships unfit 
for sea. The future was indeed dark. 



192 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

Thirteen merchantmen captured by the Bellone 
brought in a much-needed relief. With the money 
from the sale of these prizes, Suffren bought sup- 
plies of all kinds from the storehouses of the Dan- 
ish East India Company. French frigates scoured 
the seas and held up richly laden ships on their 
way from Europe or Bombay to Madras. By the 
3d of June the fleet was ready to weigh. . 

Suffren writes, with pardonable pride, to the , 
home government: "Since my arrival in Ceylon, j 
through the help of the Dutch and the prizes that 
I have captured, the squadron has been provisioned 
for six months, and I have a supply of corn and 
rice that will last more than a year." Through 
his own resolute efforts this result had been accom- 
plished. Being now ready for sea, he moved on 
to Cuddalore, which had lately been captured by 
the natives. There he entered into communica- 
tion with Hyder-Aly. 

The Indian chief had become exasperated with 
the French general, Duchemin, and his army corps. 
In the recent land operations the French contin- 
gent had taken no active part. Hyder-Aly felt 
that by want of this support he had missed the 
opportunity of winning brilliant results. It needed 
Suffren's emphatic and vigorous assurances to re- 
store his confidence and win his cooperation. 
The French admiral promised him reenforcements 
from France, and meanwhile planned with him an 
attack on Negapatan, an important post on the 



STRUGGLING AGAINST ODDS 193 

Coromandel coast. The friendship of the sultan 
was an imperative necessity. " India is no longer 
the same country," writes Suffren; some of the 
provinces "are absolutely devastated by the war, 
and it would be impossible to exist without the 
aid of Hyder-Aly. With his thousands of camels, 
he has provisions brought from the interior." 

On the 3d of July the French fleet for the 
third time put to sea from the harbor of Cuddalore 
in search of their British opponents. Two days 
later the frigates signalled the enemy anchored 
between Naour and Negapatan. In this search 
for the British, Suffren lamented, as Nelson was 
to lament after him, the want of frigates. The 
French admiral writes: "If I had had frigates 
since I have been on the coast, we should have 
inflicted severe injury on the British. I have 
only two, and they have been used to their 
utmost." 

On the morning of the 6th of July the two 
fleets had formed in line of battle, and at half-past 
ten the British bore down under full sail. When 
they came within range, Suffren gave the order 
to open fire. The number of ships engaged was 
equal on each side ; the French Ajax having 
been dismasted in a squall before the engagement. 
The battle opened with animation, and a brisk fire 
was kept up along almost the whole line. But the 
thick of the fight was around the vanguard and 
the centre ; there the firing was destructive, and in 



194 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

less than two hours many of the vessels had suf- 
fered severely. The leading British ship was dis- 
abled, and forced to retire from the action. The 
French Brillant lost her mainmast, and was cov- 
ered by the flag-ship. 

Suddenly, at one o'clock, when the battle was 
at its height, the wind veered to the southeast, and 
threw both lines into confusion. Rapid evolutions 
followed this change, and a scattered fire was kept 
up between the opponents that had been thrown 
together in the shift of wind. By three o'clock 
all firing had ceased, and Suffren re-formed his line 
to engage anew. But the British fleet was run- 
ning to the west, one of her ships was flying a sig- 
nal of distress, two others were unfit for action, 
and all were manoeuvred with difficulty. Admiral 
Hughes decided not to renew the fight, and made 
sail for Negapatan. On the following day Suffren 
returned to Cuddalore. 

During the disorder of the evolutions a strange 
incident had happened on one of the French ships. 
Finding himself close to a British vessel and 
under heavy fire, the captain of the Severe was 
seized with fright and completely lost his head. 
He gave the order to strike the flag. Some of the 
crew hauled down the colors, but two of the 
wounded officers of the Severe rushed up on deck 
and insisted that the flag should be run up again, 
and the firing recommenced. 

Suffren had heard nothing of this. He had sup- 



STRUGGLING AGAINST ODDS 195 

posed the halliards to have been shot away, and 
the disappearance of the flag a pure accident of 
war. Not until later did he hear the truth, and 
then his indignation and anger at last found vent 
in action. The captain of the Severe was at once 
deprived of his position, and sent as a common 
passenger to France. Two other officers who had 
flagrantly failed in their duty were also dismissed. 
Neither family, influence, nor relationship now 
held his hand from the just punishment of mis- 
deeds, and the displeasure that had so long been 
held in check was finally felt throughout the 
fleet. For a moment the growing insubordination 
was quelled. 

Although, at this time, Suffren was in reality a 
commodore, his commission had not yet reached 
him, and he felt that in his severe handling of 
his officers he had overreached the limits of his 
authority. It had been, in fact, this professional 
reticence that had kept him so long from admin- 
istering justice ; and it was, probably, the false 
position in which he was placed that had alienated 
the good will and ready obedience of his officers. 
He was in their eyes merely a captain with act- 
ing rank as commodore ; they were his equals in 
actual rank, and in many cases his seniors in age. 
They viewed him with jealousy and distrust, and 
his inflexible character only added fuel to their 
discontent. 

In the face of difficulties that to any other man 



196 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

would have seemed insuperable, Suffren went to 
work to refit the fleet. Cuddalore had an open 
road, and heavy seas swept over it when the wind 
was high. There were no resources in the harbor 
for repairing the damaged ships. Yet the work 
was pushed night and day. Suffren's ingenuity 
and energy triumphed over all obstacles. He | 
ordered the frigates to be dismasted in order to I 
repair the ships of the line, and the masts of the \ 
sloops to be transferred to the frigates. j 

While the fleet was lying in the roadstead of 
Cuddalore, and the damages were being repaired 
with all possible haste, Suffren arranged for an 
interview with Hyder-Aly. The Indian sultan 
had, some time previously, expressed a wish to see 
the French leader who had so gallantly held his 
stand against the British. Wishing to give Suffren 
an unprecedented mark of his esteem, he moved 
his entire army of a hundred thousand men to 
within a few miles of the French anchorage 
ground. A large body of native cavalry was sent 
to escort Suffren from Cuddalore to the camp of 
Hyder-Aly, and on his arrival the entire army 
presented arms. 

It required all the blunt energy and the honest 
purpose of the French commander to encourage 
the Indian chief in his warlike attitude. Suffren 
pitted honesty against cunning, and in return 
gained the confidence of the sultan and a com- 
plete ascendency over him. But the outlook was 



STRUGGLING AGAINST ODDS 197 

discouraging. The other native princes from being 
the friends of Hyder-Aly had become his enemies. 
His own empire was threatened with invasion. 
The army of the sultan stood alone against the 
united forces of the whole of India and Great 
Britain. The nabob felt that he must either treat 
for peace or retire to his own provinces. Suffren 
dissuaded him from both of these alternatives. He 
promised him a large reenforcement that had al- 
ready arrived at the Isle de France, and urged 
him to send his son, Tippoo-Sahib, to protect his 
own coasts. Hyder-Aly finally yielded to Suffren's 
stronger will. 

This difficult mission accomplished, Suffren 
hastened the departure of the fleet. The situa- 
tion demanded immediate action. On the 1st of 
August the order was given to weigh, and the 
French commodore headed for Batacalo, there to 
await the reenforcements from the Isle de France. 
Three weeks later seven transports and three 
ships arrived, laden with provisions, ammunition, 
and men. Letters from Europe also came by the 
Lezard. The minister of marine commended 
Suffren's conduct at Port Praya, and the Grand- 
master of Malta announced to him his promotion 
to the rank of bailiff, and enclosed the Grand 
Cross of the Order. It is by this title of Bailiff 
of the Order of St. John that Suffren has since 
been known throughout France. 



CHAPTER XVII 

FROM TRINCOMALEE TO CUDDx-lLORE 

With swift decision and dash, Suffren weighed 
anchor two days after the arrival of the reenforce- 
ments and headed for Trincomalee. News came 
to him that the British fleet had not yet left 
Madras where it was refitting. This was his 
chance for a decisive blow. 

Reaching the mouth of the bay on the 25th of 
August, Suffren sailed into the outer harbor, beat 
to windward under a brisk southwest breeze, 
gained the inner harbor, and dropped anchor out 
of range of the fort batteries. During the night 
twenty-three hundred men were landed, together 
with siege artillery, ammunition, and three days' 
provisions. 

The success of the enterprise depended upon 
promptness and vigor. Suffren acted with con- 
summate generalship. Taken by surprise, the 
British garrison offered no resistance to the land- 
ing, but retired to the forts. On the 27th Suffren 
went ashore and directed the erection of mortar 
and gun batteries, and intrenchments. Encourag- 
ing and urging forward the men, the French com- 

198 



FROM TRINCOMALEE TO CUDDALORE 199 

mander passed from work to work, and inspired 
his followers with his energy. Kaffirs and Sepoys 
labored shoulder to shoulder with marines and 
troops. Disliked by his officers, Suffren was 
adored by the common sailors and soldiers under 
his command. For him they worked with zeal 
and ardor. Rigorous and severe on any point 
of duty, he was their friend and benefactor, and 
they said of him, "Good like M. le bailli de 
Suffren." 

The batteries were finished on the 29th and 
armed with six guns taken from the ships, and 
three mortars. Fire was opened early in the 
morning. Well directed and accurate, the heavy 
metal did rapid damage. All through the day 
shot and shell fell on the defences of the two Forts 
of Trincomalee and Ostienbourg. On the morning 
of the 30th, although the breach was not large, 
Suffren summoned the chief fort to surrender. 
Captain Hay Macdowal claimed the honors of war 
and a free passage to Madras. Suffren did not 
want prisoners, he wanted the fort, and he was in 
haste to get possession before the arrival of Sir 
Edward Hughes. Accepting all the conditions of 
the governor, he ran up the white flag on Fort 
Trincomalee ; on the following day Fort Ostien- 
bourg capitulated on the same terms. 

In the space of five days Suffren had captured 
the only port on the east coast of Ceylon, a position 
of importance as an anchorage for the fleet. He 



200 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN^ 

lost no time in placing a garrison in the forts, 
organizing his new conquest, and reembarking his 
men and material. 

His previsions were soon realized. Two days 
after the fall of Trincomalee the French lookouts 
signalled the enemy's fleet. Suffren was ashore at 
the time. Hurriedly regaining his ship, he gave; 
the order to weigh and prepare for battle. It was' 
dusk when the enemy was sighted. Sir Edward 
Hughes was evidently still ignorant of the capture 
of Trincomalee and had not as yet discovered the 
French fleet which was moored close under the 
forts. Dropping anchor to the north of the bay, 
Sir Edward waited until morning before entering 
the harbor. He had come to protect the port, but 
he had come too late. 

Early the following morning the British fleet 
confidently approached the entrance. At sight of 
the white standard of France floating over the 
forts, and Suffren's flag on the Heros^ Sir Edward's 
surprise and dismay were complete. He fell back 
in consternation ; the fleet bore up and stood out to 
sea. 

Suffren was eager to follow up his conquest by 
a decisive victory over the British fleet. He 
fretted to measure himself again with his rival. In 
quick succession he made the signals to " Hoist all 
sail," " Clear the decks," and " Prepare for action." 
But Suffren's impetuosity was not shared by his 
captains. They were tired of fighting. Going on 



FROM TRINCOMALEE TO CUDDALORE 201 

board the flag-ship, they urged their commander to 
desist from a new battle. It was more prudent, 
they argued, to remain in harbor. Trincomalee 
gave the fleet a safe and comfortable wintering 
ground. Sir Edward was evidently keeping out to 
sea so as to separate the French fleet from the port 
and make it difficult for them to find refuge there 
again. 

" Gentlemen," answered Suffren, " if the enemy 
were superior in numbers, I should retire ; an 
equal force, I should hesitate to engage; but 
against inferior numbers, there is no choice, we 
must fight; make signal to weigh." 

The fleet got under way, and the orders followed 
each other promptly to " Form in line " and to 
come to " Close quarters." It is one thing to give 
the orders and another to have them obeyed. The 
open insubordination and ill will of some of his 
officers and the hopeless stupidity of others ruined 
his plans. Signals . were either misunderstood or 
not followed, the fast-sailing ships outstripped 
their laggard consorts, the line of battle was never 
formed. Fire broke out on the Vengeur and 
alarmed the other vessels. Disorder took posses- 
sion of the fleet. 

Some of the ships engaged within pistol shot. 
Most of them never reached their positions. Hav- 
ing made fruitless attempts to restore order, Suffren 
kept on his course and covered twenty-five miles in 
two hours and a half. The British fleet still stood 



202 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

out to sea. As Suffren expressed it in his report, 
" Admiral Hughes evaded without fleeing, or rather 
he fled in good order." Not until two o'clock 
could Suffren reach him. A broadside from the 
HSros^ fired by mistake sooner than was intended, 
opened the battle. 

Three ships, alone and unsupported, suffered the 
brunt of the struggle — the JIero8^ the Illustre^ and 
the Ajax. The other vessels had manoeuvred badly. 
The whole of the vanguard and two of the centre 
were too far in advance of the British line, and 
were useless. Three vessels of the rear were al- 
most out of range. Signal followed signal on the 
masthead of the flag-ship, but all to no avail. The 
scattered line could not be rallied. Ten vessels 
took no part in the battle. 

Then Suffren plunged into the fight with bitter 
desperation. Abandoned by the greater part of 
his fleet, in close and mortal conflict with his rival, 
he paced the deck with fierce exasperation. His 
sails were in shreds, his rigging cut, he was envel- 
oped in a cloud of smoke. Soon the mainmast 
fell ; then the mizzentopmast crashed into the sea. 
His flag was shot away, and a cry of exultation 
rose from the enemy. It is said that he called 
out, " Bring flags, bring the white colors, and 
cover the ship with them." 

Suffren was heart-broken. For three hours this 
uneven, cruel contest was kept up, and still the 
three devoted ships, groaning under the heavy 



FROM TRINCOMALEE TO CUDDALORE 2D3 

broadsides of the enemy's centre, raked fore and 
aft by the vanguard and the rear, answered with 
gallant courage and vigor. 

A light southwest breeze sprang up at about 
half-past five, and the British tacked about. " If 
the enemy had veered head to wind," writes the 
flag captain, "we should have been cut off and 
probably destroyed." 

When night closed in, the firing ceased, and 
Suffren beat back upon Trincomalee. He had 
changed his flag from the Heros^ which was towed 
into port, together with the lUustre. The British 
did not follow, but headed for Madras. 

Suffren was inconsolable over his lack of suc- 
cess. It is true that misfortune as well as disaf- 
fection contributed to the failure. The complete 
calm that followed the first stiff breeze left the 
ships helpless and immovable in their badly taken 
positions. Even had the captains wanted to rectify 
their mistakes, the complete absence of wind would 
have made it impossible. Want of zeal and hearty 
cooperation was, however, the chief cause of the 
unsuccess, and Suffren was only too glad when four 
of the oflicers, among them the senior captain of the 
fleet and the leader of the hidden mutiny against 
the commander-in-chief, asked leave to retire to 
the Isle de France, under the excuse of ill health 
and business. 

The work of repairing the damaged ships was 
again actively pushed forward. The same inge- 



204 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

nuity as before was shown in the devices for re- 
masting the vessels. Masts were changed from 
frigates to ships of the line, and the unfortunate 
Orient^ which had been run aground through the 
ignorance of her officer, was used as material for 
repairs. 

Early in October the fleet left Trincomalee and 
moved on to Cuddalore. In entering the harbor 
the new and inexperienced captain of the Bizarre 
ran her ashore, and every effort to haul her off was 
unsuccessful. Two ships had thus been lost by the 
carelessness of their officers. This was a fresh 
trial for Suffren ; and while the French fleet had 
been losing vessels, the British had been reen- 
forced by a squadron of five ships under Sir 
Richard Bickerton, who arrived at Madras in 
December. 

During the season of the winter monsoons the 
two fleets were obliged to seek shelter in safer 
harborage than on the east coast of India. Sir 
Edward Hughes sailed for Bombay and prepared 
to winter in that port. Suffren, it had been sup- 
posed, would be forced to make sail for the Isle de 
France, and the British were not displeased at the 
thought that on the return of the fine season they 
would be the first on the scene of action. But 
Suffren's plans could never be counted on. He 
decided, instead, to find winter quarters in the 
ample and well-protected roadstead of Achem on 
the island of Sumatra. Leaving Cuddalore on 



FROM TRINCOMALEE TO CUDDALORE 205 

the 15th of October, the French fleet cast anchor, 
two weeks later, off Achem. 

Suffren's stay m port was not long — less than 
two months. He was eager to be on the seas once 
more. On the 20th of December he again weighed 
anchor, turned northward, and cruised along the 
coast. Two weeks brought him to Ganjam on 
the Orixa coast, where he captured some British 
ships laden with rice. A few days later a Brit- 
ish frigate ran into the fleet, and was taken. 
From her captain, Suffren learned of the sudden 
death of Hyder-Aly on the 7th of December. 

The loss of his Indian ally filled Suffren with 
concern. He at once gave up his desultory cruis- 
ing expeditions and headed for Cuddalore. The 
situation needed his ruling hand. The nabob's 
son, Tippoo-Sahib, had assumed the chief command 
of his father's army, and was cordially inclined 
toward the French. But his own provinces on 
the coast of Malabar had been invaded by the 
British, and several important places had fallen 
into their hands. Tippoo-Sahib had finally deter- 
mined to leave the coast of Coromandel and has- 
ten to the defence of his own possessions, when 
the arrival of Suffren induced the young Indian 
chief to change his plans and to renew his father's 
alliance with the French. 

Suffren now made haste to gain Trincomalee. 
Sir Edward Hughes might any day appear upon 
the scene with his increased forces, and the French 



206 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

commander was in no condition to meet him. 
Under press of sail he hurried southward, there to 
await a long-expected reenforcement from Europe. 
Finally, on the 9th of March, a small squadron 
appeared in the offing, and a few hours later three 
ships of the line, one frigate, and thirty-four trans- 
ports, laden with supplies, cast anchor in the 
harbor of Trincomalee. 

However welcome this new force was, it could 
not he considered as a strong addition to the fleet ; 
two of the ships were in such bad condition when 
they left Brest that the long voyage had been 
made with the greatest difficulty and with mortify- 
ing slowness. Suffren writes : " It is incredible 
that two ships, in such a condition as were the 
Hardi and the Alexandre^ should have been sent 
out from Brest to India." 

This was not the only disappointment. The 
squadron from France brought Lieutenant-general 
de Bussy, the new commander-in-chief, who had 
been sent out to assume the head of the naval and 
military forces, an old man in wretched health and 
of no initiative. To compensate somewhat for 
these misfortunes, Suffren received his commission 
as commodore, and a complimentary letter from 
the minister, in which Marshal de Castries writes : 
" I cannot express to you the high degree of con- 
fidence that your conduct has given in your audac- 
ity and talents." 

To Suffren, who was ever more eager for an 



FROM TRINCOMALEE TO CUDDALORE 207 

occasion to do his duty and to fight the enemies 
of his country than for personal reward or dis- 
tinction, this praise could not wholly offset the 
appointment of an incompetent and invalided 
commander. Writing on this point to the minis- 
ter, he says: "I am under the orders of M. de 
Bussy. My only reason to regret this is that no 
good can come of it to the service ; but I can 
assure you that I shall do my utmost so that no 
harm may come of it." 

Acting with characteristic disinterestedness and 
vigor, Suffren decided to accompany the troops 
and supplies to Cuddalore. The garrison needed 
strengthening and was in daily expectation of an 
attack both by land and sea. The British admiral 
was known to have left Bombay, and might cut off 
communications at any time. With seven ships 
of the line and five frigates to protect the trans- 
ports, the run was successfully made. The troops 
and supplies were landed at Porto Novo and at 
Cuddalore during the nights of the 16th and 17th 
of March, M, de Bussy, who was suffering from 
the gout, having to be carried into Cuddalore in 
a palanquin. 

Turning southward again on the 4th of April, 
Suffren made a dash for Trincomalee. He must 
reach port before Sir Edward Hughes could inter- 
cept him. Scarcely had he come within sight of 
the harbor than the lookout frigate signalled 
eighteen ships of the line. Pressing forward with 



208 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

every sail hoisted to the wind, Suffren had the 
satisfaction of sailing into port within sight of 
the enemy's fleet. 

The old and battered ships of the French fleet 
were sorely in need of repair. At Achem the re- 
sources had been scanty. They now underwent a 
thorough overhauling. While the work of repair- 
ing damages was carried on with activity, alarming 
news reached Suffren from the commander-in-chief. 
General de Bussy was shut up in Caddalore, be- 
sieged by land and sea. At the head of the 
British army General Stuart had taken up a 
strong position on the north and south of the 
town. Sir Edward Hughes was blockading the 
harbor and preventing all communication by sea. 
Provisions were running low, and the garrison was 
in need of supplies. 

Still, Suffren could not leave port for several 
weeks. His ships were not seaworthy. Most of 
them had not been heaved down for five years; 
some had to be constantly pumped out. Manned 
by only three-quarters of their regular crews, the 
vacancies had not been filled since 1781. Under 
these conditions it was not possible to put to sea 
until the 11th of June. Two days later the 
frigates sighted the British fleet of eighteen men- 
of-war at anchor off Cuddalore. 

On the approach of the French, Admiral Hughes 
weighed anchor and advanced to meet his rival. 
But Suffren was not ready to engage. He was 



FROM TRINCOMALEE TO CUDDALORE 209 

meditating a brilliant and audacious move. Using 
his superior knowledge of tactics, he put his fleet 
through a series of evolutions which brought him 
into communication with the port. Great was Sir 
Edward's annoyance when he found that his enemy 
had changed places with him, and had slipped his 
ships, by clever manoeuvres, between the British 
and the shore. 

Suffren could now throw supplies into the be- 
sieged place, and in return receive reenforcements 
to his crews. On the 18th he was ready to offer 
combat, but for two days Sir Edward refused it. 
Finally on the 20th the two fleets bore down on 
each other. Numerically, the British were far 
superior to their opponents, although the scurvy 
had broken out with fearful virulence and had 
greatly reduced the crews. 

Immediately before the battle Suffren changed 
his flag to the frigate Cleopatre^ in accordance 
with an order from the home government. The 
recent capture of the Count de Grasse, who had 
been made prisoner in his own ship, the Ville de 
Paris^ had been the cause of this order. To view 
the battle from afar, and take no part in it, must 
have been an almost unendurable trial to the im- 
petuous and daring Suffren, accustomed as he was 
to plunge recklessly into the heat of the fight. 

Suffren's tactics had been the first step toward 
success. At four o'clock on the afternoon of the 
20th the signal to open fire was flying from the 



210 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

masthead of the Cleopatre. From then until 
seven o'clock the battle was kept up with spirit, 
and not until night closed did the firing cease. 
The British retired to Madras, leaving the battle 
ground to Suffren and thus acknowledging his 
victory. The French commander had accom- 
plished his object of relieving Cuddalore and 
raising the blockade by a dashing feat, and a 
successful combat against a superior force. It 
was the crowning action of the campaign. 

Suffren's first impulse was to cut his cables and 
fly in pursuit of the enemy, but he was learning to 
curb his impetuosity. He was short of anchors 
and cables, and had few fast-sailing vessels ; Cud- 
dalore was still threatened by land, and had given 
him twelve hundred of her garrison. For these 
reasons he contented himself with his already 
splendid triumph, and anchored in the roadstead 
of Cuddalore. There he was received with en- 
thusiasm. A salute of guns from the forts, and 
cries of " Vive le Roi ! Vive Suffren ! " greeted him 
as he stepped ashore. An immense concourse of 
people had gathered on the dock to meet and 
escort him to the town. 

Action, however, not repose, was Suffren's 
motto. He now urged M. de Bussy to make a 
general and vigorous sortie on the army of Gen- 
eral Stuart. To this the commander-in-chief was 
opposed, and while Suffren was still trying to 
instil energy into the impotent counsels of his 



FROM TRINCOMALEE TO CUDDALORE 211 

chief, news arrived of the cessation of hostilities. 
The treaty of peace signed between France, Great 
Britain, Spain, and the United States put an end 
to the war. 

Suffren's return to Europe was a triumphal 
progress. At the Isle de France he met with the 
wildest demonstrations of joy. At Table Bay, 
where he touched, nine British ships were an- 
chored in the roadstead, and to Suffren the most 
flattering of all the homages he received were 
the marks of esteem and consideration shown him 
by the British officers. 

Suffren dropped anchor in the harbor of Toulon 
on the 26th of March, 1784. France lavished her 
favors upon the hero of the Indian Ocean. He 
was the idol of the people. At court he was 
treated with distinct honor. The rank of lieu- 
tenant-general had already been conferred on him 
after the capture of Trincomalee and the first 
battles of the campaign. The king now created 
for him a fourth vice-admiralship, and in April 
invested him with his new dignity. As this rank 
was created solely for Suffren, the king ordered it 
to be abolished at his death. 

The new admiral lived only four years after the 
brilliant campaign that has become one of the 
famous naval achievements of which France can 
boast. Called to the command of a fleet that had 
been fitted out at Brest on the threatened outbreak 
of fresh troubles between France and Great Brit- 



212 VICE-ADMIRAL DE SUFFREN 

ain, he was taken suddenly ill, and died on the 
8th of December, 1788. 

Wretched materials, leaky ships, raw, motley, I 
and insufficient crews ; no ports or storehouses, 
no supplies of provisions or ammunition ; lack of 
masts and rigging, anchors and cordage to repair 
damages ; a restless ally to reclaim and satisfy ; 
officers ignorant, cowardly, mutinous — these were 
some of the difficulties against which Suffren op- 
posed his inflexible will, passionate determination, 
unflinching patriotism ; his readiness, knowledge, 
and sense of duty. And he won. This is the 
strongest eulogy that can be given him. 



VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

1747-1792 



VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

CHAPTER XVIII 

AN INTERNATIONAL SEA FIGHTER 

A MAN of no country, "citizen of the world," 
and fighter in the cause of humanity; a Scottish 
trader, an American commodore, a French cheva- 
lier, a Russian admiral; the most striking figure 
in the United States navy, winner of the most 
conspicuous sea battle of the Revolution — this 
was Paul Jones. 

He was the Drake of the New World. A man 
of violent contrasts, adventurer, courtier, and dis- 
tinguished commander ; an invincible fighter, sum- 
mary in punishment, with the spirit of plunder and 
rapine held more in check than by his ancient 
predecessor, shrewd in personal enrichment, of 
unfettered ambition, ferocious, unyielding, enthu- 
siastic, versatile. 

Like Drake, the love of the sea mastered him in 
childhood; like Drake he began his career as a 
slave trader in voyages to the West Indies; like 
Drake he was a forerunner, the pioneer of a new 
sea-power, founder of a new navy; like him he 
understood the value of offensive action carried 
215 



216 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES ^ 

into the waters and along the coast-line of the 
enemy. 

Like Drake, his name has been surrounded by 
a veil of tradition and romance, made the subject 
of popular tales and fanciful legends which have 
clouded and distorted actual truth and history ; 
and he has been as much hated in Great Britain as 
" El Draque " was in Spain. 

Coming upon the scene before the first rum- 
blings of a far-distant storm could yet be heard, 
trained from earliest years in the rough school- 
ing of the sea, he was swept in full manhood into 
the tempestuous current of stirring events, which 
awakened a new nation in a new world, and 
proved him to be one of those men whom destiny 
reserves for great crises. 

Born in 1747, on the shores of southern Scot- 
land,^ his earliest home and his first playground 
were on the borders of that water that he learned 
to love so well. Official records state that he 
" was born on the 6th of July, 1747, at Arbigland, 

1 1 desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. BuelPs 
valuable and spirited work on Paul Jones, recently published 
by Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons. The many previous 
"Lives," all of which have been under my hand, are in- 
complete and unsatisfactory, and we now have for the first 
time an adequate biography of the ' ' Founder of the American 
Navy." The mass of fresh and interesting material, which 
Mr. Buell has gathered together, throws new light on every 
phase of the career of Admiral Jones, and becomes indispensa- 
ble in the preparation of any sketch, however slight, of the 
most prominent figure in the Revolutionary navy. 



AN INTERNATIONAL SEA FIGHTER 217 

in the parish of Kirkbean and Stewartry (or 
county) of Kirkcudbright." 

His father, John Paul, a Lowlander, — a man of 
staunch peasant stock and of more than ordinary 
intelligence, — was head gardener, gamekeeper, 
and fish- warden to a country squire, the Hon. 
Robert Craik. Jeanne Macduff, his wife, a " Hie- 
land Lassie " and descendant of one of the fierce 
clans that had their home among the heathered 
hills of Scotland, also served in the employ of their 
master, the country squire, as lady's maid to Mrs. 
Craik. 

Reaching down to the rugged shores of Solway 
Firth, the Craik estate extended along the borders 
of the Nith River, and covered stretches of park, 
dense woods, and glades, cut here and there by 
small salmon streams that found their way into 
the Nith. Near by was the little fishing hamlet 
of Arbigland, and the quiet inlet where the sturdy 
fishermen brought in their boats ; across the river 
was the larger town of Dumfries ; while on the 
opposite side of the Solway, twenty-five miles by 
water, on England's shore, lay Whitehaven, a 
prosperous commercial port and centre of trade. 

John Paul was the father of seven children — 
four sons and three daughters. His eldest boy, 
William, born in 1730, was early adopted by a dis- 
tant relative, William Jones, who had emigrated 
to the American colonies, and lived on his planta- 
tion in Virginia, a thriving and successful business 



i 



218 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

I 

man. William sailed to his new home across the 
Atlantic and assumed the name of Jones, three 
years before John Paul, Jr., the fifth child and 
youngest son, came into the world. 

Little John Paul's childhood was short ; he soon 
grew into a hardy, self-confident, independent lad, 
with scant instruction save what he learned at the 
humble parish school of Kirkbean. But his les- 
sons came to an end when he was twelve, and 
even before that time were often interrupted by 
his favorite studies on the margin of Carsethorn 
Creek, where seamen sought shelter from storms 
and tides, and unloaded their cargoes of tobacco 
for Dumfries. There he sailed his mimic boats, 
listened to the old tars' yarns, learned the mariners' 
grammar, and with eager eyes and keen intelli- 
gence watched the fishermen as they steered their 
boats into harbor. There he learned to handle 
a yawl and to brave the sudden northeast squalls 
that tried the courage and capacity of many an 
experienced fisherman. 

Sturdy, fearless, and with a passionate longing 
for sea-life thus early developed, he begged his 
father to let him ship aboard some merchant vessel 
sailing from Whitehaven to Virginia and the West 
Indies. The earnest desire of the young sailor 
boy prevailed, and in the summer of 1759, when 
he was only twelve, John Paul, Jr., was sent across 
the Sol way and apprenticed to James Younger, 
Esq., a prosperous merchant in the American 



AN INTERNATIONAL SEA FIGHTER 219 

trade. Soon after a new brig spread her sails 
and stood out to sea on her first voyage. It was 
the Friendship^ bound for Virginia, belonging to 
James Younger, with Captain Bennison in com- 
mand and John Paul, Jr., as master's apprentice. 
A month later she leisurely dropped anchor in the 
Rappahannock river, not far from the plantation of 
William Jones. 

The intense boyish desire of John Paul was now 
realized. He was launched upon the career that 
he loved, and his first voyage had brought him to 
the very home of his brother whom he had never 
seen. He found William Paul Jones, who was 
seventeen years older than himself, a successful 
married man, the business manager and overseer 
of his adopted father's trade and plantation. 
While the Friendship lay at anchor in the Rappa- 
hannock, her master's apprentice spent much of 
his time on land with his brother, and it was then 
that he was for the first time attracted to the 
novel and independent life of the American colo- 
nies. But while his lively interest was awakened 
and stirred by the half-wild, half-civilized land that 
he afterward adopted, his love then and always was 
for the sea. And, although William Jones offered 
to adopt him as his second son, he chose rather to 
throw in his fortunes with his god-father Neptune. 
After the round trip to Virginia, the West Indies, 
and back to England, the Friendship sailed into 
Whitehaven harbor early in 1760. 



220 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

For the next six years John Paul sailed on trad- j 
ing voyages in Mr. Younger's ships, and advanced ' 
rapidly in capacity and skill. He had a keen, open 
mind, quick to observe; his intelligence was un- 
usual in so young a boy, and he had an exception- 
ally retentive memory. With this outfit he was 
sure to succeed in the struggle of life, especially 
as his grit, self-dependence, and force would sooner 
or later lead him into positions of command. In 
1764 we hear of his serving as second mate on 
West Indian traders, and in 1765 as first mate. 
Mr. Younger retired from business in the follow- 
ing year, and released John Paul from his inden- 
tures, giving him at the same time a sixth interest 
in a packet in the West Indian trade. 

As first mate of the King Creorge, John Paul 
made two voyages with Captain Denbigh to the 
west coast of Africa and to Jamaica, doing a profit- 
able business in the slave trade. But at the end of 
the second voyage he sold his share in the ship to 
Captain Denbigh, and returned to England as pas- 
senger on board the John O^Q-aunt, sailing from 
Kingston, Jamaica, to Whitehaven. This trip proved 
to be one of those chances that fortune threw into 
his hands, and that he was always ready to catch. 
John Paul never missed the opportunities of des- 
tiny by being taken unprepared. 

The seeds of the yellow fever sailed on the John 
0' Graunt when she left the Antilles and stood out 
from the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean. 



AN INTERNATIONAL SEA FIGHTER 221 

Hardly had she cleared the Windward Islands be- 
fore its ravages spread through the crew. The 
captain, mate, and most of the crew died within 
a few days. Only five were left, and John Paul, 
passenger. 

The constant and independent studies of John 
Paul in seamanship and tactics now served him a 
good purpose. He assumed command of the fever- 
stricken brig, and brought her safely into the harbor 
of Whitehaven. Her owners, Currie, Beck & Co., 
showed their gratitude by giving him a generous 
reward, and by appointing him captain and super- 
cargo of a new ship, the John^ bound for the 
West Indies. In command of this ship he made 
three round-trip voyages, visiting his brother on 
the Rappahannock, and drawing together even more 
closely the bonds that united him to America. 

On the death of Mr. William Jones, the Virginia 
planter, in 1760, he had left his entire property of 
three thousand acres, buildings, slaves, cattle, and 
sloop to his adopted son. But a clause in the will 
provided that, in case William should die without 
children, John Paul was to inherit the property. 
Only one condition was attached to the bequest : 
John Paul must assume the name of Jones, as his 
brother had done before him. When John Paul 
sailed away in 1769 from the Rappahannock, after 
having legally accepted the conditions of the will, 
he perhaps little thought how soon he was to return 
and take possession of his American plantation. 



222 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

After reaching England he was put in command 
of a merchant vessel belonging to Currie, Beck 
& Co., but chartered by the East India Com- 
pany as a convoy ship to transport stores and 
troops to the Indian Ocean. The round trip 
covered a year from 1771 to 1772. His last mer- 
chant voyage was undertaken late in 1772 as cap- 
tain of the Two Friends. Sailing by way of Lisbon, 
the Madeira Islands, and Tobago, he dropped 
anchor in the Rappahannock in April, 1773. He 
had arrived at the Jones plantation too late to see 
his brother again. William Jones was lying at 
the point of death and was unconscious. He died 
soon after. 

John Paul now became the master of a Virginia 
estate, and destiny seemed to reserve him for the 
uneventful life of a colonial planter. He assumed 
the name of Jones, sent the Two Friends on her 
homebound voyage under the command of her first 
mate, and settled down as an American landed 
proprietor. His plantation covered broad acres of 
cultivated land and dense forests of " strong, first- 
growth timber." It included grist-mill, tobacco 
houses, river wharf, negro quarters, stables, and all 
the necessary belongings of a small but flourishing 
plantation in tide-water Virginia. 

For two years Paul Jones enjoyed the quiet and 
independent life of a country squire. Leaving the 
business of his estate to Duncan Macbean, his 
brother's faithful overseer, who had already man- 



AN INTERNATIONAL SEA FIGHTER 223 



aged it successfully for many years, he gave him- 
self up to society and study. He entertained the 
neighboring families of Virginia with lavish hospi- 
tality; he travelled, visited, observed, and broad- 
ened his knowledge of affairs and men. The poor 
Scotch gardener's son, taught until he was twelve 
at a small parish school, for sixteen years appren- 
tice, mate, and captain of merchant ships, had be- 
come a cultivated man of the world, a politician, a 
finished scholar, and a master in the art of the sea. 

Paul Jones had trained himself. He was a 
natural student, not only of books, but of life and 
things. Wherever he went he was quick and alert 
to see. He studied French and Spanish, naval 
history and tactics, diplomacy and politics. In his 
own profession he had mastered not merely the de- 
tails of a seaman's practical knowledge, but the 
broader features of the influence of sea control on 
national power and expansion. Although only a 
merchant mariner, he had made himself familiar 
with the conditions of the chief navies of Europe. 
He knew how war-ships should be built, and what 
it cost to build them. He knew the difference in 
construction between British frigates and French 
frigates. He had made plans and taken dimensions 
of foreign vessels, and knew the capacity of foreign 
dockyards. 

His sphere of interest was wide and varied, and 
he was constantly preparing himself for a possible 
but unknown future in which his ambition for 



224 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

glory and distinction might be satisfied. He loved 
power, and with marvellous energy and will he had 
supplied himself with the means of gaining power. 
One of these means, he early recognized, was inter- 
course with men of position, influence, and note, 
the great leaders and the brilliant minds of the 
time. He met Colonel Washington, Thomas 
Jefferson, Philip Livingston, and the Lees ; he was 
a warm friend of Joseph Hewes, and became ac- 
quainted with prominent men of New York, North 
and South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and the most 
distinguished of the Virginian families. 

Quick to grasp the signs and meaning of the 
political outlook, and to feel the drift of coming 
events, it was not a surprise to him to see the 
gathering of the storm that burst upon the coun- 
try in the battle of Lexington. In January, 1775, 
Jones writes, "• I availed myself of these occasions 
(conferences between Washington, Jefferson, Liv- 
ingston, and the Lees) to assure Colonel Washing- 
ton, Mr. Jefferson, and all the others that my 
services would be at the disposal of the colonies 
whenever their cause should require service on my 
own element." 

A man of action, of indomitable strength, and 
of broad and vivid interest in public affairs, like 
Paul Jones, was not one to be laggard in the face 
of stirring events. A fighter by nature, so great a 
fighter that he was later to accept service under 
a foreign flag rather than remain inactive under 



AN INTERNATIONAL SEA FIGHTER 225 

the flag of his adoption, Paul Jones could not fail 
to be one of the first to strike a blow on his own 
element. And he was quick to perceive that the 
creation of a navy would be for the colonies the 
inevitable consequence of a struggle with Great 
Britain. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 

The opening blast of the Revolution found Paul 
Jones swift to respond. He had started in his 
sloop for a sail to Boston, but on reaching New 
York late in April he heard from William Living- 
ston the news of the battle of Lexington. " This 
caused an immediate change of my plans," he 
writes. He had laid out for himself a long expedi- 
tion, which he now promptly abandoned, and on 
the 24th of April set sail for home. Three days 
later he was picking up his moorings at the plan- 
tation, and writing to Mr. Hewes and other mem- 
bers of the Continental Congress to offer the 
assistance of his seafaring experience in the forma- 
tion of a naval force. 

His help and advice were soon to be called for. 
In June, 1775, the new marine committee, on 
which figured his friend Joseph Hewes, invited 
him to lay before them any information and advice 
that he might consider useful on two points : the 
proper qualifications of naval officers, and the kind 
of armed vessels most desirable for the service of 
the united colonies. Paul Jones embodied his 
views in two able and trenchant letters. The 



THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 227 

strength, directness, and broad scope of liis answers 
carried with them weight and influence. The com- 
mittee accepted them, with few changes, as the 
basis of their decisions. Paul Jones was thus the 
first seaman who shared in the creation of our 
navy. His judgment as a marine expert ruled the 
counsels of the group of men who, as he writes to 
them, were " called upon to found a new navy, to 
lay the foundations of a new power afloat." 

Paul Jones's estimate of the necessary qualifica- 
tions of a naval officer was high : he should be, 
not only a capable mariner, but a man of liberal 
education, versed in foreign languages, international 
law, diplomacy and admiralty jurisprudence ; abso- 
lute in authority, just and tactful. 

Even more valuable and of practical assistance 
was his advice as to the best kind of ship to be 
constructed. He considered it unwise to attempt 
the building of ships of the line. As the affairs of 
America "cry haste I^"* and as the resources of 
Congress were limited, he strongly urged the 
construction of frigates rating from thirty-two 
twelve-pounders, to forty eighteen-pounders. The 
information he gave on the different points of cost, 
dimensions, plans, and materials was clear, precise, 
and convincing. Although a scheme had already 
been presented to the committee for the construc- 
tion of six ships of the line, Jones's opinion pre- 
vailed, and a resolution was passed authorizing the 
building of six twelve-pounder frigates. 



228 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JON^ES 

The first squadron of our national navy consisted 
of four ships — the frigates Alfred and Columbus^ 
and the brigantines Andrea Doria and Cabot. The 
first list of officers included five captains, five first 
lieutenants, and eight junior lieutenants. In this 
list Paul Jones stood at the head of the first lieu- 
tenants. Favoritism and the power of the Massa- 
chusetts party on the naval committee kept him 
out of the list of captains. That he felt the slight 
and injustice of the arrangement is certain ; but, in 
a vein of broad disinterestedness, he writes to Mr. 
Hewes : " I am here to serve the cause of human 
rights, not to promote the fortunes of Paul 
Jones. ... I will cheerfully enter upon the 
duties of first lieutenant of the Alfred under 
Captain Saltonstall. Time will make all things 
even." 

Although he had been intrusted with the entire 
care of converting the Alfred from a merchantman 
into a war frigate, and had repaired, equipped, and 
fitted her out for service, he now in a spirit of 
generous devotion accepted an inferior rank. His 
commission as lieutenant was dated on the 7th of 
December, 1775. Less than three weeks later he 
assumed temporary command of the Alfred^ Cap- 
tain Saltonstall not having yet arrived, and hoisted 
with his own hands for the first time the original 
American flag — the pine tree and rattlesnake. 

The little squadron was not ready for sea until 
the 17th of February, 1776, when it sailed from 



THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 229 

Delaware Bay and headed for the Bahamas. Al- 
most two months later, on the 11th of April, the 
squadron dropped anchor in the harbor of New 
London after a cruise that ended in court-martials 
and disgrace. It had taken only a few months for 
time to "make all things even." Captains ap- 
pointed through influence and favoritism were 
dismissed, while Paul Jones was honorably retained 
and given an independent command. 

On the 10th of May he was ordered to take com- 
mand " as captain of the Providence!^'' a small sloop 
of fourteen guns, and his appointment was written 
on the back of his lieutenant's commission. After 
transporting troops and stores between New Lon- 
don and New York, and convoying American ships 
along the coast, he started on a cruise to harass 
British commerce, which lasted for six weeks and 
five days. With a crew of seventy men and only 
twelve four-pounders, he sped through waters 
swarming with British frigates from the Bermudas 
to Nova Scotia, destroyed the enemy's fisheries at 
Canso, and made two daring descents on the 
island of Madame, surprising the shipping and cap- 
turing stores. Sixteen prizes fell into his hands, 
besides a large number of fishing smacks ; of these 
he manned eight and destroyed the rest. Twice 
the little Providence was pursued by British frig- 
ates. Near the Bermudas she fell in with the 
Solehay of twenty-eight nine-pounders, and for six 
hours was chased by her, part of the time within 



230 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

short range. Once she was almost in the clutches 
of her enemy, and her fate seemed sealed, but by a 
sudden and audacious manoeuvre the American cap- 
tain dodged his antagonist in such a way that the 
Britisher "got taken aback" and, as Paul Jones says, 
" let me have the chance to show him a clean pair 
of heels on my little sloop's best point of sailing." 

Paul Jones received his captain's commission 
from Congress on his return to port in August. 
In the following October he was ordered to take 
command of the Alfred and the Providence^ and to 
cruise in northern waters. A descent on the coal 
fleet and fisheries of Cape Breton was the original 
object of the expedition. Hoisting sail on the 2d of 
November, he turned toward Canada. His first 
prizes were a brig with a rich cargo of dry goods, 
a snow loaded with fish, and the armed transport 
Hellish^ bound for Canada, carrying a large and 
valuable store of uniforms, bedding, clothing, tents, 
saddles, ammunition, and other army supplies in- 
tended for the British troops in America. 

Continuing on his way, and jealously guarding 
his rich prizes, Jones stopped at Canso, where he 
burnt and destroyed the warehouses, stores, and a 
fine transport. By the 26th of November he had 
added to his fleet of prizes three ships of the British 
coal fleet, and a letter of marque from Liverpool. 
As his water and provisions were now running 
short, and he had a hundred and fifty prisoners on 
board, he decided to escort his prize convoy to the 



THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 231 

shelter of some friendly port, and turned south- 
ward toward Boston. Advancing cautiously on 
his homebound course, and running before the 
Milford^ a full-manned 32-gun British frigate, 
which he fell in with off St. George's Bank, he 
finally brought his prizes safe into harbor. 

While Paul Jones had been ranging the seas and 
harassing the enemy's commerce, the cruel chances 
of war had dealt him a severe blow behind his 
back. His plantation had been ravaged by the Brit- 
ish; his houses, mill, and store buildings burned, 
his crops destroyed, his wharf levelled, his slaves 
sold to Jamaica merchants — " the completest 
wreck imaginable of any kind of possessions." 
But he did not complain. " This is, of course, a 
part of the fortunes of war," he writes to his friend, 
Mr. Hewes ; " it thus appears that I have no for- 
tune left but my sword, and no prospect except 
that of getting alongside the enemy." This pros- 
pect was before long to be realized. 

Paul Jones was at all times a man of original 
ideas, and was persistent, enthusiastic, impetuous 
in upholding them. Like Drake before him he 
saw the necessity of carrying hostilities into the 
enemy's waters, of destroying shipping in home 
ports, of harassing and injuring commerce on home 
shores. He saw, besides, that success in British 
seas would bring with it more prestige and raise 
us higher in the estimation of Europe than even 
greater victories in American waters. 



232 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 



1 



His earnest and tireless appeals for a command 
or for service in the English and Irish channels at 
last bore fruit. Final and full recognition came 
from General Washington himself, before whom 
Jones had laid his case with a vehemence that car- 
ried conviction, and that inspired Washington to 
say to him, " Captain Jones, you have conceived 
the right project, and you are the right man to 
execute it." 

The result was an appointment to command 
the new sloop-of-war Ranger^ carrying twenty six- 
pounders, and orders to hold himself in readiness 
for a swift sail to France to carry despatches of 
the highest importance. The Ranger stood out to 
sea on the 1st of November, 1777, and the news 
she carried under seal was the surrender of Bur- 
goyne. 

Under crowded sail the little sloop dashed over 
the Atlantic, staggering in the teeth of heavy 
northeast winds, blindly driven through snow 
squalls by day and thick fogs by night. Still 
Captain Jones " stuck grimly to his great circle," 
the shortest route by a week. " I will spread this 
news in France in thirty days," he had said, and 
he raced across the ocean at a speed that filled his 
crew with amazement. And yet " not a man was 
punished or even severely reprimanded during this 
terrific voyage," writes the second lieutenant. 
When Captain Jones assumed command of a ship, 
he threw the " cat-o'-nine-tails " overboard, and 



THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 233 



banished floggings. He made his sailors like him, 
and, as he writes, "with sailors, as they average 
up, liking a commander and being of a will to 
fight for him to the last gasp, are quite the same 
thoughts." 

On the last day of the run the Banger captured 
two prizes bound from eastern marts to London, 
and on the 2d of December, 1777, she sailed into 
the Loire and dropped anchor at Nantes. Captain 
Jones travelled post-haste to Paris with his packet 
of news, only to find that he had been already 
outstripped. Mr. Austin had arrived from Boston 
twenty-four hours earlier with duplicate despatches, 
having sailed two days before the Banger. This 
was not the only disappointment that greeted 
Jones. He had been promised, by Congress, a 
large, new frigate built for the United States at a 
neutral Dutch dockyard. On reaching Paris he 
found that the vessel had been, for political reasons, 
already sold to the French king. Instead of start- 
ing on his long-cherished cruise in British waters 
on the deck of a fine new 46-gun frigate, Jones 
was thus forced to content himself with the little 
sloop Banger of twenty guns. 

Still fully determined to "get alongside the 
enemy," Jones gave his ship a thorough refitting, 
and early in February sailed into the harbor of 
Brest. A dense crowd of rigging filled the road- 
stead, as the Banger, flying the American colors 
at her masthead, appeared in the offing. It was 



234 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

the great French fleet under the command of 
Count d'Orvilliers. Prompt in upholding the 
honor of the flag, Paul Jones asked, as a condi- 
tion of his entering the port, an answering salute 
from the French fleet. His request was granted, 
and, as the stars and stripes passed through the 
midst of the heavy line-of -battle ships, the French 
guns roared out the first salute ever given by a 
foreign navy to the national standard of the 
United States. 

One week earlier the Treaty of Alliance between 
France and the United States, which first recognized 
American independence, had been signed at Ver- 
sailles. The salute to the flag was the seal to the 
treaty. To Paul Jones it was a matter of strong 
personal feeling. " The flag and I are twins," he 
had said, for the same resolution of Congress that 
had appointed him to the command of the ship 
Ranger had decreed that the national flag of the 
United States should be thirteen stripes, alternate 
red and white, and thirteen stars in a blue field. 

It was April before the Ranger got under way 
for her famous cruise — the cruise that spread the 
terror of Paul Jones's name along the coasts of 
England and Ireland, and won for him the titles 
of "pirate" and "freebooter." Early on the 
morning of the 10th of April " the sauciest craft 
afloat," as she was called by her second lieutenant, 
in outward appearance "a perfect beauty," glided 
out of the roads of Brest, and headed for the 



THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 235 

coast of Ireland. Capturing or destroying British 
traders along the southern coast of England, Jones 
entered St. George's Channel. Driven by a heavy 
gale into the Irish Sea, he formed the bold scheme 
of making a sudden descent on Whitehaven to 
burn and destroy the shipping. High and shift- 
ing winds and heavy seas foiled the first venture, 
and in a second attempt the Ranger was kept back 
by light winds and a sudden calm. 

But, resolved not to abandon his project, Captain 
Jones ordered out the boats and called for vol- 
unteers. Twenty-nine seamen, two lieutenants, 
and a midshipman offered to join in the attack. 
Leading the party in the first boat, Jones crept 
stealthily toward the town ; as he reached the pier, 
dawn began to break. There was now little time 
left for the enterprise, for the town was beginning 
to be roused. He divided his men into two parties : 
Lieutenant Wallingford and his division were to 
set fire to the shipping on the north side of the 
harbor, while Paul Jones led his men to the 
south. 

Nearly three hundred vessels lay side by side 
in the dry basin. A few fires kindled among them 
would have wrapped them in flames. But " by 
the strangest fatality," as Jones says, the candles 
of the two parties burned out while he was scaling 
the walls of the forts and spiking the guns. 
Finally a light was obtained from a neighboring 
house, and while the alarmed inhabitants were 



236 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

gathering on all sides, a ship's hold was set on 
fire. The flames leaped up the hatchway and 
spread to masts and rigging. It was too late to 
attempt more. The town was thoroughly aroused, 
and it was now broad daylight. Jones and his 
men gained their boats and rowed back to the 
Ranger. 

Not contented with his attack on Whitehaven, 
Jones stood over for the south shore of Scotland, 
where, on St. Mary's Isle, lay the castle of the 
Earl of Selkirk. The raid he proposed was in 
true buccaneer style, and for once his hot spirit 
of brigandage went beyond the limits of a naval 
officer's commission. To surprise the castle, kid- 
nap the earl, and carry him off as hostage for the 
good treatment of American prisoners was an 
original but hardly a warlike enterprise. The 
attempt failed, as the earl was away, but the crew 
were allowed to carry off the Selkirk plate, which 
Jones returned to the countess five years later. 

On the morning of the 24th of April the Ranger 
was off Carrickfergus on the north coast of Ire- 
land. Inside the harbor, and preparing to come 
out, was the Drake., a British sloop-of-war of 
twenty guns. Contrary winds and an incoming 
tide made her slow in working out, and meanwhile 
she sent one of her boats to reconnoitre the strange 
sail in the offing. Lured on by the innocent-look- 
ing stern of the Ranger^ the British boat came 
within hail, and alongside. She was punished for 



THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 237 

her want of caution. Her officer and men were 
promptly made prisoners. 

It was an hour before sunset when the Drake 
finally weathered the point and came within hail 
in mid-channel. The British flag was run up on 
her masthead, and at the same moment the Ranger 
flung out the stars and stripes. In answer to the 
hail, " What ship is that ? " came the answer : 
" The American continental ship. Banger. Come 
on ; we are waiting for you." And the last word 
of the answer had scarcely died away before it 
was followed by a raking broadside at close range. 
There was now no doubt left as to the character 
of the strange ship and her commander. She was 
the dashing sloop that had coolly made her way 
into the heart of Whitehaven harbor, and her 
commander was the audacious Paul Jones, daring 
to plan and swift to execute. 

The Drake bore up and poured her answer back. 
Then for an hour and five minutes the action was 
"warm, close, and obstinate." Broadside after 
broadside followed one another in quick succession, 
but the gunnery of the Ranger's men was far 
superior to that of their antagonists. Jones, in 
speaking of the efficiency of his men, says : " Every 
shot told, and they gave the Drake three broadsides 
for two, right along. ... It was pure and simple 
broadsiding at close range. . . . The enemy's fire 
was spirited, but, for a king's ship, very in- 
effective," 



238 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

In an hour's time the Drake was almost a wreck. 
Her spars and rigging were crippled, her sails 
cut to pieces, two ensigns shot away, her masts 
and yards shattered, her captain killed, and num- 
bers of her men wounded. When she had become 
" an unmanageable log on the water " she struck 
her flag and was boarded by the Ranger s men. 

The capture of the Brake was the first marked 
naval success of the war. That a British war 
vessel had surrendered to one of equal or inferior 
force fighting under the American flag, was in 
itself a moral victory greater than the material 
advantage won, even though British authorities 
claim that the Drake was "not in a fit state for 
actual service." The ships themselves were small 
and unimportant, but the results were large in 
comparison. The victorious cruise of the Ranger 
in British waters, the seizure of prizes, the daring 
though unsuccessful surprise of Whitehaven har- 
bor, when the destruction of an enormous quantity 
of valuable shipping failed only through the in- 
competency of under officers, the final action and 
capture of the Drake^ formed a brilliant and dra- 
matic d^but of the new-born navy. It aroused and 
alarmed the British coast, and filled all Englishmen 
with indignation and surprise. It gratified and 
won the admiration of France, the foe of Britain 
and friend of the new republic. And it gave 
authority, confidence, and vitality to the young 
and still undeveloped naval power that was 



THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 239 

measuring its strength with the lirmly established 
mistress of the sea. It was with a natural and 
pardonable feeling of professional pride that Paul 
Jones looked forward to his return to Brest, leading 
the trophy of his victory. 

Fair weather and moderate winds on the morn- 
ing of the 25th made easy the work of repairing 
the Banger and patching up the Drake for the 
return voyage. Sailing southward through St. 
George's Channel, Jones made his way to the 
French coast, accompanied by his war prize and 
a large merchant brigantine captured on the last 
day. He arrived in the roads of Brest on the 
8th of May, less than a month after he had first 
put to sea. 

At Brest he was received in triumph. Hostili- 
ties had opened between France and Great Britain, 
the great French fleet had been placed on a war 
footing, and to the officers of Count d'Orvilliers's 
squadrons the arrival of the first war prize was an 
event of curiosity, interest, and congratulation. 
Paul Jones became the hero of the hour, applauded 
and admired by the court and the people. 

Weeks and months of trouble and uncertainty 
were, however, to follow on the heels of his suc- 
cess. His first care was to provide for the urgent 
necessities of his crew, to feed and clothe his men 
and prisoners, and to repair his ship. Thrown 
entirely upon his own resources through the 
poverty of the continental government and the 



240 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

dishonoring of his draft by the commissioners, 
he sold his merchant prize in disregard of prece- 
dent and law, and with the proceeds provided 
food for his men and supplies for his ship. 

" I am sure I will succeed in the end," he had 
said, and, in all the months of disheartening trials 
that were to follow, it was this spirit of uncon- 
querable pluck and tenacity that carried him over 
every obstacle. He never surrendered, either to 
the enemy, or to the chances of fortune, or to moral 
opposition. And when he was forced, in compli- 
ance with an order received from Congress before 
leaving America, to hand over the command of 
the Ranger to her first lieutenant, Simpson, he 
still did not despair or repine. When the Brake 
set sail for home early in the fall of 1778, Paul 
Jones was left in a foreign land with no command 
and no prospect of a ship. 



CHAPTER XX 

THE "BON HOMME RICHARD" 

With Paul Jones, to live meant to fight and to 
succeed. Failure meant to fight and to die. His 
present struggle was for a ship or a squadron, 
and he had against him countless intangible foes : 
the poverty of the American commissioners, the 
limited resources of the French marine and prefer- 
ence given to regular French officers, the fierce 
jealousy of the younger officers in the French navy, 
cabals, spies, and secret hostility. These were 
some of the " hindrances " that beset his path, and 
some of the " sinister facts " with which he had 
to contend. But even then he could still write ; — 

" Though my efforts to obtain a small squadron 
have not met with the success I had hoped for, I 
still hope and will, as always, persevere." 

Unsupported and unassisted by his own govern- 
ment, alone in a foreign country, begging for 
foreign help, he had at least two powerful friends 
— the Duke de Chartres, eldest son of the Duke 
d'Orleans, and his wife, the Duchess de Chartres. 
By their advice he finally made a direct appeal to 
the king of France, and as a result of this appeal 

241 



242 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

received a letter from the minister of marine, 
announcing that " His Majesty has thought proper 
to place under your command the ship Le Duras, 
of forty guns, now at L'Orient." 

Being thus provided with a ship by the king, 
and with generous financial help by the Duchess 
de Chartres, Paul Jones at once entered with char- 
acteristic energy and enthusiasm on the task of 
preparing for a cruise. The Duras, an old East 
Indiaman that had seen hard service, needed com- 
plete overhauling and equipping. Three months 
were consumed in preparing her for her new use 
and destination, and in enlisting a crew. Even 
then she was nothing better than a makeshift; her 
batteries were mounted with the refuse guns of 
the French government, the only ones obtainable, 
and her crew was mostly foreign. Of the three 
hundred and seventy-five men whom Jones was 
able to collect, only fifty were Americans, the rest 
were French, Portuguese, and British. But, before 
the final date of sailing, the exchange of British 
and American prisoners of war gave him the op- 
portunity of replacing some of his alien seamen by 
one hundred and fourteen Americans. 

It was August when all arrangements were com- 
pleted, and the Duras, whose name had been 
changed by Jones to the Bon Homme Richard^ out 
of compliment to Benjamin Franklin, was converted 
into a 40-gun man-of-war ready for sea. Jones 
writes of it : "I might have a better ship, and my 



THE "BON HOMME RICHARD" 243 

crew would be better if they were all Americans. 
But I am truly grateful for ship and crew as they 
are." 

The squadron that sailed from L'Orient under 
the command of Commodore Jones counted, be- 
sides the Richard which was the chief and largest 
ship, the Alliance^ Captain Landais, a 36-gun 
frigate, the Pallas^ a 28-gun frigate, and the 
Vengeance^ a 12-gun brig. These ships were 
commanded by French officers, and manned 
chiefly by French sailors. All excepting the 
Alliance belonged to the king of France, and 
French money paid the expenses of the expedition. 
Yet the ships sailed and the men fought under the 
American flag, and the French officers were, for 
the time, commissioned officers of the United 
States. The commander-in-chief of this motley 
armament was looked upon by the regular officers 
of the French navy as little more than an adven- 
turer. It can readily be understood that under 
these circumstances the spirit among both officers 
and men was one of discontent, jealousy, suUen- 
ness, and insubordination. 

Even these heterogeneous and ill-assorted ele- 
ments might have been held in check by the 
unfettered and resolute control of a commander- 
in-chief with full liberty of action. But Paul 
Jones found himself limited in his powers and 
handicapped from the start. He was forced to 
sign an agreement, or concordat, which obliged 



244 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

him to ask the advice of his captains instead of 
imposing on them his authority, and which practi- 
cally gave each captain the power to act indepen- 
dently. Jones writes with some bitterness: "I 
have no real right to consider my flag-ship any- 
thing more than a convenient rendezvous where 
the captains of the other ships may assemble when- 
ever it pleases them to do so, for the purpose of 
talking things over and agreeing — if they can 
agree — upon a course of sailing or a plan of 
operations from time to time." 

After making a false start from L' Orient, and 
having to regain port for repairs, the squadron 
finally set sail from the road of Groiax " at day- 
break on the 14th of August," 1779. The pro- 
jected cruise was to draw a circle around the 
British Islands and end at the Texel. Heading 
for the west coast of Ireland, the little squadron 
sailed across the entrance to the English Chan- 
nel and cleared the southernmost point of the Irish 
coast. The capturing of merchant prizes laden 
with cargoes of provisions, the desertion of twelve 
British seamen who had been sent ahead in a 
barge to tow the Richard off the dangerous reefs 
of the coast, the loss of Mr. Lunt, the master of 
the Richard^ and ten seamen w^ho had pursued the 
deserters too far inshore, the open insubordination 
and revolt of Captain Landais of the Alliance — 
these were the incidents that marked the first 
days of the cruise. 



THE "BON HOIVOIE RICHARD" 245 

Through calms and gales and changing winds 
Jones worked his way up the west coast of Scot- 
land, and then beat down the east coast as far as 
the Firth of Forth. Two letters of marque were 
captured in this run, manned, and sent to friendly 
ports. The Alliance^ meanwhile, had separated 
from the squadron, her captain, Landais, having 
long ceased to regard signals or even to consult 
with the commander-in-chief and the other 
captains. 

On the evening of the 13th of September the 
Richard sighted the hills of Cheviot, and on the 
following day captured two small prizes. From 
them Jones learned that the road of Leith was 
undefended except by an armed ship of twenty 
guns and two or three cutters. He at once deter- 
mined to surprise the port and levy a contribution 
on the town or reduce it to ashes. A swift attack 
with a favorable wind would undoubtedly have 
resulted in success. But Jones was obliged to 
call on board the captains of the Pallas and the 
Vengeance and communicate his plan. Precious 
time was lost, and on the morning of the 17th, 
when the first attempt was made, a fierce storm 
prevented the lowering of the boats and drove the 
Richard off the coast. Captain Cottineau of the 
Pallas^ unwilling to risk a second venture now 
that the alarm was given, urged the commodore to 
sail southward for Spurn Head. Jones acceded, 
though keenly disappointed at having his plan 



246 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES T 

I 

frustrated. He had, at least, thoroughly aroused | 
the entire coast of Fife. 

A sail of three days brought the squadron to 
Spurn Head, and on the 22d of September the 
news of what was to turn a commonplace and 
uneventful cruise into one of the most stirring and 
wide-famed ones in history was brought to the 
commodore by the Vengeance. The large Baltic 
fleet laden with valuable naval stores for Great 
Britain had arrived under convoy, and lay waiting 
in Bridlington Bay for a favorable wind to carry 
it to the Downs. 

The moment for which Paul Jones had worked 
and passionately longed had come at last. His 
" hope of performing some essential service " was 
to be realized. With the chance of his life before 
him, he was all energy and decision. Signalling 
his consorts to follow him, he headed northward 
for Flamborough Head. The run was made during 
the night of the 22d, and the following morning 
found him north of Bridlington Bay, beating up 
against a light southwest wind. It was slow work, 
and the Richard was still twelve miles out to sea 
when the entire Baltic fleet sailed out of the bay, 
running for the shelter of Scarborough and keep- 
ing close to the land. 

From the masthead of the Richard flew the sig- 
nal for a general chase. Then the merchant ships 
crowded sail, and the two escort ships stood out to 
protect them; it was their evident intention to 



THE "BON HOMME RICHARD" 247 

engage the strange vessels that threatened the 
convoy. In answer to this manoeuvre Commodore 
Jones bore down under press of sail and signalled 
his squadron to form for battle. Only the Pallas 
answered. The Alliance paid no heed and kept 
seaward. The little Vengeance had already received 
the order, " Lie to, as you are ; you are not big 
enough to bear a hand in this." 

The two British escort ships were the Serapis^ a 
new 44-gun frigate, and the sloop-of-war Countess 
of Scarborough. Captain Cottineau of the Pallas 
gave chase to the sloop which was running out 
to leeward to protect the convoy, and during 
the coming fight he was fully occupied in captur- 
ing and manning her. Paul Jones was thus 
left single-handed on an old, half -rotten makeshift 
of a ship, a slow sailer and difficult to handle, with 
a crew mostly foreign, and with worn-out guns, to 
face an antagonist fresh from the stocks, armed 
with a double battery and mounting new and 
heavy guns, of superior sailing powers and handy 
to manoeuvre, manned by a perfectly trained crew, 
and commanded by Captain Pearson, a man of 
undoubted skill and courage. 

Yet with these almost overwhelming disadvan- 
tages Jones was eager to meet his foe, and crowded 
every possible sail so as to reach him before night. 
It was seven o'clock in the evening before he came 
within pistol shot. As the Richard approached. 
Captain Pearson tried to make out her rate ; his 



248 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 



^ 



first hail received no answer, and finally, after 
scanning her with his night-glass, he said to his 
first lieutenant: " It is probably Paul Jones. If so, 
there is work ahead ! " His second hail was 
answered by a broadside. 

The ships had closed to within six hundred feet 
of each other. A steady, light wind blew from 
the southwest. The sea was smooth. In the clear 
evening sky the harvest moon had just risen. 

Almost simultaneously with the first broadside 
from the Richard came an answering one from the 
Serapis. Jones writes, in his report to Dr. Frank- 
lin, " The battle being thus begun was continued 
with unremitting fury." Broadside followed 
broadside as the two ships drifted with the light 
southwest wind at about a cable's distance from 
each other. At the first fire two of the six old 
eighteen-pounders on the lower gun-deck of the 
Richard burst and caused fearful damage. They 
formed part of the battery that Jones had impro- 
vised in the steerage, under the main deck, aft, and 
were worn-out guns declared unfit for service by 
the French authorities. The explosion killed and 
wounded most of the men belonging to the gun- 
crew, and demoralized the remainder, who refused 
to work the other eighteen-pounders. The lower 
gun-deck was then abandoned, and the broad- 
siding power of the Richard was thus at the 
outset reduced to one -third less than that of the 
Serapis. 



THE "BON HOMME RICHARD" 249 

Jones at once saw that his only hope was to 
grapple with the enemy. The heavy and well- 
trained fire from the lower tier eighteen-pounders 
on the British ship made fearful havoc. Man 
after man on the Rieliard's gun-deck dropped at 
his post, and several guns were silenced. 

Drifting together as they advanced, the two 
ships slowly closed, and a false manoeuvre of the 
Serapis brought her within reach of the musketry 
from the Richard's tops. At this moment Jones 
almost succeeded in closing with his antagonist 
and holding her fast with his grapnels; but the 
lines gave way, and the ships drifted apart. 

The broadsiding was now renewed with fearful 
effect on the rotten timbers and the light metal 
of the Richard. Nine of her twelve-pounders had 
been abandoned, eighty men of the main battery 
had been killed or wounded. The condition of 
the deck was terrible. Only five guns were still 
in working order. Affairs below were even more 
alarming. The hull had been pierced by several 
eighteen-pound shot, and the water was pouring 
into the hold ; it was already four feet deep and 
was increasing. The ship had sunk two feet. 

At this point Commodore Jones exclaimed to 
his first lieutenant, Richard Dale : " Dick, his metal 
is too heavy for us at this business. He is hammer- 
ing us all to pieces. We must close with him ; we 
must get hold of him ! " 

It was his last chance, his only hope. By a 



250 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

skilful mancenvre he rounded the bows of the 
Serapis and closed with her to within a hundred 
feet. The enemy's jib-boom ran over the Richard's 
poop-deck, was caught in her starboard mizzen-rig- 
ging and was lashed fast to the mizzenmast by the 
commodore himself. The two ships lay alongside of 
each other, their yards entangled, "and the cannon 
of each ship touching the opponent's." The star- 
board anchor of the Serapis hooked in the Richard's 
mizzen chains, and the antagonists swung together, 
grappled and locked in a firm embrace. 

Commodore Jones had attained his object. It 
was time to profit by it. During this last manoeu- 
vre the main battery had been completely silenced 
and abandoned, while the great guns of the enemy's 
lower tier were smashing and crushing and driv- 
ing in beams and planking. Only three of the 
quarter-deck nine-pounders were still serviceable. 
Mr. Mease, who commanded them, was severely 
wounded in the head. The French marines had 
lost their captain, and their lieutenants lay mor- 
tally wounded. The rank and file were discouraged 
and wavering. At this crisis Paul Jones sprang 
on to the quarter-deck and became at once the life 
and centre of the defence. He rallied the men at 
the battery, shifted over one of the guns himself, 
and directed the fire. Then he dashed among the 
French marines "like a tiger among calves," cheered 
and exhorted them in their own tongue with his 
great voice, and even took the loaded muskets 



I 



THE "BON HOMME RICHARD" 251 

from their hands and set them an example of good 
firing. His French orderly of the day, writing an 
account of the battle, says : — 

" They responded instantly to him. In an in- 
stant they were filled with courage. The indom- 
itable spirit, the unconquerable courage of the 
commodore filled every soul, and every one who 
saw his example or heard his voice became as much 
a hero as himself. At that moment the fate of the 
combat was decided. Such was the power of one 
heart that knew no fear. Such the influence of 
one soul that knew the meaning of no other word 
than conquest." 

The sole chance of victory lay in clearing the 
enemy's decks ; everything depended on the un- 
swerving aim of the sailors in the tops and the 
marines on the decks. If the enemy should suc- 
ceed in casting off the lashings that held the ships 
together, the fate of the Richard would be sealed. 
The commodore bent all his energies to the defence 
of this grapple and to clearing the exposed decks. 
The enemy could no longer stand to his wheel or 
handle his sails. "It was instant death to any 
English sailor that tried to touch a brace, sheet, 
or halliard." Their forecastle was finally aban- 
doned by officers and men. 

The ships had grappled at eight o'clock. Dur- 
ing all this time the Alliance had not been seen. 
At last, at half-past nine o'clock, she appeared, and 
Jones thought that the battle was over ; with her 



252 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

aid he could not fail to win. To his surprise and 
indignation Landais discharged a full broadside 
into the stern of the Richard. The commodore 
could not credit the Frenchman's treachery. He 
showed his signal of three lanterns in a horizontal 
line. Still the Alliance passed slowly round, firing 
deliberately into her consort's head, stern, and 
broadside. There was no possibility now of a 
mistake; it was clearly treachery. Several men 
on the Richard were killed, a number of shot 
pierced her sides below water, the leak increased, 
and the water gained in the hold. 

Some of his officers tried to persuade Jones to 
strike, but his fierce resolve never to surrender 
still upheld him. Earlier in the action one of the 
under-officers, crazed with fear, called for quarter. 
The ensign had already been cut away by a shot, 
and hearing the cry, Captain Pearson hailed the 
commodore and asked if he demanded quarter. 
Jones replied vehemently that he had only just 
begun to fight. Afterward Pearson, during his 
court-martial, said of this incident : " This I at 
first thought to be mere bravado on his part. But 
I soon perceived that it was the defiance of a man 
desperate enough, if he could not conquer, to sink 
with his ship alongside." 

The condition of the Richard was indeed des- 
perate. Fire had broken out in the lower deck, 
and the flames spread among the splinters and 
wreckage to within a few feet of the magazine. 



THE "BON HOMME RICHARD" 253 



Five feet of water were in the hold, and the ship 
was slowly sinking. The master-at-arms, who was 
guarding more than two hundred British prisoners 
taken on prizes and confined below decks, thought 
the Richard was sinking and let them loose. Only 
fifty escaped, and these, with savage irony and 
marvellous presence of mind, Jones set to work on 
the pumps. 

The resources of the commodore were not yet 
exhausted. Although the enemy's upper decks 
had been cleared, his lower tier, being covered, 
was still untouched. Jones now suggested the 
idea of dropping hand-grenades through his main 
hatch into the lower tier. The acting gunner, 
Midshipman Fanning, and two seamen were 
ordered to lay aloft to the maintop. Armed with 
two buckets of grenades and a slowmatch, the 
four lay out on the yard-arm. The hatch was only 
partly open, and the hole not more than two feet 
wide, but the main yard-arm of the Richard over- 
hung it, and at the third trial Fanning succeeded 
in his aim. A fearful explosion followed the 
throw of the hand-grenade, the hatch of the 
Serapis was blown open, fifty men were killed or 
maimed, and the after part of the lower tier 
silenced. 

It was at this point during the last scenes of the 
desperate fight that the Alliance bore down for the 
second time until within musket-shot of the Rich- 
ard, and again raked the shattered and sinking 



254 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

ship that was flying her own colors. Fired at 
alike by friend and foe, it seemed hopeless to per- 
sist, but Jones still held his last card in reserve. 
Seeing that the mainmast of the Serapis wavered, 
and that the enemy was beginning to flinch, he 
ordered a picked party of boarders to stand in 
readiness for the signal, armed with cutlasses and 
pistols, under the command of Acting Lieutenant 
John May rant. At last the signal was given, and 
they went over the rail. 

The thirty desperate sailors who formed the 
boarding party plunged over the hammock netting 
and down into the fore part of the Serapis. Meet- 
ing with little opposition, they were soon in 
complete possession and rushing toward the quar- 
ter-deck. Captain Pearson, seeing the hopeless- 
ness of resistance, himself struck his flag. 

Both ships were on fire, and the smoke, envelop- 
ing them in a dense cloud, increased the confusion 
twofold. It was some time before either side real- 
ized the situation. The first lieutenant of the 
Serapis^ coming up from below, asked Captain 
Pearson, "Has the enemy struck, sir?" Pearson 
replied, " No, sir ; I have struck." 

It was half -past ten o'clock on the night of the 
23d of September, 1779, when, for the first time, 
the British flag on a man-of-war was struck to the 
stars and stripes. 

There was still much work to be done. The 
victorious Richard^ a mass of wreckage, was fast 



THE "BON HOMME RICHARD" 255 

sinking. She had seven feet of water in her hold; 
the pumps, still manned by the British prisoners, 
were beginning to be choked, and several shot- 
holes were below the water line. Only one hun- 
dred unwounded men of her crew were left on 
board, nearly every gun was dismounted, her star- 
board side was completely driven in, and the 
flames were fast destroying the rest. 

Nathaniel Fanning writes : " Such was the con- 
dition of the Richard when, sinking and on fire, 
she was still the conqueror, and could by signal 
command the ship that had destroyed her. Noth- 
ing like this has ever been known in the annals of 
naval warfare." 

During the day after the battle all the wounded, 
to the number of a hundred and twenty, were 
removed to the Serapis^ the prisoners were also 
transferred, but there was no time to save any of 
the ship's stores. Early on the morning of the 
25th of September the Richard sank. Commodore 
Jones, in his journal, says : " No one was now left 
aboard the Richard but our dead. . . . Our torn and 
tattered flag was left flying when we abandoned 
her. As she plunged down by the head at the 
last, her taffrail momentarily rose in the air; so 
the very last vestige mortal eyes ever saw of the 
Bon Homme Richard was the defiant waving of 
her unconquered and unstricken flag as she went 
down." 

The situation after the sinking of the Richard 



256 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

was appalling. The Serapis had lost her mainmast ; 
only one hundred and fifty men of the victorious 
crew were fit for service, and on them fell the work 
of repairing and manning the disabled Serapis, car- 
ing for two hundred and forty wounded, and guard- 
ing three hundred and twenty-two British prisoners. 
The little squadron consisted of the Serapis, the 
Pallas with her prize, the Duchess of Scarborough, 
and the Vengeance, nearly all more or less battered. 
They were off the enemy's coast, now thoroughly 
aroused, and several large men-of-war were on their 
track and looking for them. Fortunately a fog hid 
them and covered their movements, and then a stiff 
southwester began to blow off the coast. 

Driven before the gale into the North Sea, for 
five days the crippled ships were tossed and beaten 
on the waves. One of those on board writes : '' In 
the common danger enmity was forgotten and every 
one who could walk worked with a will to save the 
ship and their own lives." On the fifth day the 
wind abated and shifted to the northwest. Jones 
shaped his course for the coast of Holland, and ran 
into the Texel, where he anchored on the 3d of 
October. 



CHAPTER XXI 

FRENCH AND RUSSIAN HONORS 

PAUL Jones arrived in Holland to be met by 
complicated troubles and diplomatic vexations. 
His first care was to deal with the rebellious cap- 
tain of the Alliance, who had cast anchor in the 
Texel twenty-four hours before the commodore 
sailed into the Dutch port. Landais was at once 
suspended, and the command of the Alhance 
given to Degge, her first lieutenant. His next 
duty was to provide for the one hundred and fifty 
wounded British prisoners on board the Serap^s 
and Fallas. After an appeal to the States-Gen- 
eral, permission was granted him to land the 
wounded and have them cared for in Texel Fort. 
Meanwhile the British ambassador at the 
Hague, Sir Joseph Yorke, was addressing memo- 
rials to the Dutch government, demanding the im- 
mediate seizure and restitution of the two British 
prizes that had been taken by "a certain Paul 
Jones . . . rebel, pirate, and state criminal In 
the long diplomatic correspondence that fo lowed. 
Commodore Jones gave proof of W8<300 judg- 
ment, calm, legal mind, and masterly handling of 
delicate international questions. 

267 



258 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

The result was a resolution passed by the States- 
General in which they refused to consider Paul 
Jones as a pirate or otherwise, and urged him to 
"depart with his prizes as soon as wind and 
weather would permit." But this was not all. 
Having settled with the Dutch authorities, Jones 
was next confronted by the representatives of 
France, who claimed the Serapis as a French prize. 
In the final outcome he was obliged to leave behind 
the Pallas^ Vengeance^ and Countess of Scarborough^ 
and to give up the Serapis^ reserving for himself 
only the American ship Alliance. 

On the 25th of December Commodore Jones 
hoisted his flag on the Alliance and prepared to put 
to sea. But the British had not satisfied them- 
selves with protests and correspondence. A squad- 
ron of seven sail was blockading the entrance to 
the Helder. Jones could not get out " except by 
running their gauntlet," and there seemed little 
chance of escape. But he watched his opportu- 
nity. " On Christmas Day an easterly gale began, 
which compelled the English fleet to make an off- 
ing." With the wind that drove the British off the 
coast, the Alliance sailed out of the harbor. Jones, 
with reckless daring, eluded the seven blockading 
ships, and shaped his course for the Straits of 
Dover, ran within full view of the British fleet 
in the Downs, and on the following day passed 
within range of the Channel fleet off Spithead, 
and sighted several large, two-decked cruising 



FRENCH AND RUSSIAN HONORS 259 

ships. After revictualling his ship at Corunna on 
the coast of Spain, he sailed into the harbor of 
L'Orient on the 10th of February, 1780. 

On finding that the skilful and audacious Amer- 
ican commodore had escaped. Sir Joseph Yorke 
vented his discontent in an official despatch, in 
which he deplored that " His Majesty's blockading 
squadron had apparently been driven off the coast 
by a so-called gale, which Captain Jones obviously 
regarded as only a fair-sailing wind." 

During the following months Paul Jones over- 
saw the complete refitting and overhauling of the 
Alliance^ and made several journeys to Paris and 
Versailles. During one of these absences, when 
he was arranging for the settlement of prize 
moneys, the disgraced Landais conspired to usurp 
the command of the Alliance^ seize the ship, and 
take her out to sea. Although the French au- 
thorities were ready to deal with the mutineers, 
even to the point of turning the guns of the fort 
on the ship and sinking her, Jones shrank from the 
horror and bloodshed, and allowed the ship to sail. 

The summer of 1780 was divided by the com- 
modore between attempts to obtain command of 
the jSerapis and social festivities at Paris. His 
unexampled victory off Flamborough Head had 
spread the prestige of his name throughout the 
French capital. He was the lion in the highest 
circles of Parisian society, and was received in the 
most exclusive drawing-rooms of the nobility. Fetes 



260 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

and honors were showered upon him. The king 
presented him with a gold-mounted sword, and 
conferred on him the Royal Order of Military- 
Merit, and the rank and title of Chevalier. 

But the French contented themselves with con- 
ferring honors on the American hero, and while 
these gratified the commodore's vanity, they failed 
to satisfy his vehement and consuming longing for 
another opportunity to get "alongside the enemy." 
After repeated attempts to obtain the command 
of a ship or a squadron, and repeated failures 
through the cabals of French officers, Paul Jones 
finally sailed in the Ariel for the United States 
on the 18th of December, 1780, and two months 
later anchored at Philadelphia. 

On his return to America as the conqueror and 
hero of one of the fiercest naval battles in history, 
and the only officer who had won brilliant naval 
victories in our war of independence, Paul Jones 
was treated with distinguished honor and marked 
favors. From Congress he received a vote of 
thanks "for the zeal, prudence, and intrepidity" 
with which he had supported "the honor of the 
American flag," and the eminent services by 
which he had "added lustre to the American 
arms." General Washington sent him a personal 
letter of congratulation and esteem. And on the 
26th of June he was appointed to the command 
of the America^ a large 74-gun line-of-battle ship 
then building at Portsmouth. 



FRENCH AND RUSSIAN HONORS 261 

Great as was his satisfaction at the important 
command conferred upon him, Paul Jones was not 
destined to assume his new duties. After he had 
directed the work of the America s construction, 
and had seen her successfully launched, she was 
suddenly snatched from his grasp. Early in the 
month of September, Congress voted that the newly 
built ship be given to the king of France as a com- 
pensation for the loss of the French Magnifique 
which had been recently wrecked off Boston har- 
bor. 

Although Jones's disappointment was keen, he 
accepted the loss with grim and loyal cheerful- 
ness. But the desperate spirit of the fighter that 
was ever astir within him, his restlessness and un- 
quenchable desire for action, and his never satis- 
fied ambition, made life on land impossible. 
Deprived of his new command, and with no pros- 
pect of active service in the continental navy as 
the war was now practically finished, he requested 
permission to volunteer in the French expedition 
to the West Indies. His request was granted, 
and in the last days of December, 1782, he sailed 
on board the flag-ship of the Marquis de Vau- 
dreuil. Four months later news of the general 
peace brought the cruise to an end, and Jones 
again returned to America. 

His next mission was a pacific, diplomatic, and 
complex one. He was appointed by Congress 
special agent to collect all prize-moneys due by 



262 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

France to American seamen who had served under 
his orders, and on the 10th of November, 1783, he 
set sail for France. The next three years and a 
half were spent in Paris, London, and Copenhagen 
in the discharge of his duties as plenipotentiary — 
duties which were prosaic, it is true, but which 
were also difficult and demanded tact and diplo- 
matic handling. 

Early in the summer of 1787 he returned for the 
last time to the United States. His arrival was in 
many ways a triumphal entry, and during his short 
stay of four months honors and attentions of all 
kinds were showered upon him. He was feted and 
entertained by the most distinguished men and 
women of the land. Congress voted that a medal 
of gold be struck and presented to him in com- 
memoration of his valor and brilliant services. It 
was a period when, almost for the first time, full 
and spontaneous justice was done to his extraor- 
dinary powers and achievements. When in the 
fall of 1787 he bid what was to be his last farewell 
to his adopted country, he carried with him some 
of the pleasantest memories of his restless and 
exciting life. On the morning of the 11th of 
November he boarded the packet G-overnor Clinton 
and sailed out of New York harbor, bound for Eng- 
land and the Continent. 

The news that greeted him on his arrival in 
Paris was to no small degree startling. It was an 
unofficial invitation to accept an appointment in 



FKEXCH AND RUSSIAN HONORS 263 

the Russian naval service. This was soon after- 
ward followed by a flattering offer from the 
Empress Catharine II herself, which he received 
while he was at Copenhagen. 

Early in April, 1788, Commodore and Chevalier 
Paul Jones accepted the commission of rear-admiral 
in the Russian navy, and started at once for the 
new field of work that had so unexpectedly opened 
before him. He reached St. Petersburg on the 
23d of April, after a stormy and dangerous journey 
across the ice-bound Baltic Sea to the Gulf of Fin- 
land, and overland from Revel to the seat of the 
imperial court. 

The sixteen months of Admiral Jones's stay in 
Russia formed one of the most painful and one of 
the stormiest periods in his eventful life. It added 
little to his already preeminent naval renown 
except by showing that the victor of the fiercest 
battle between single ships was also capable of the 
broader responsibility and wider knowledge called 
for in the command of fleets. It involved him in 
a net of intrigues and conspiracies, falsehood, mis- 
representation, and injustice. It brought him into 
contact with men who in character, aims, and prac- 
tices were wholly out of touch with and antago- 
nistic to his inflexible honesty, fidelity in service, 
and stern principles of right. 

His reception by the Empress at the Russian 
capital had been flattering and captivating to the 
romantic spirit of Paul Jones, and it was with hope- 



264 VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

ful energy and enthusiasm that he travelled post- 
haste across Russia to gain the seat of operations in 
the war against the Turks. But he early found him- 
self fettered by limitations, surrounded by cabals, 
and disheartened by jealousies which brought him 
to the verge of exasperation and disgust. 

On reaching the headquarters of Prince Potem- 
kin on the borders of the Black Sea, Admiral Jones 
was assigned to the command of the squadron of 
Kherson, composed of nineteen ships of war. Two 
of these were rated as ships of the line, the rest as 
frigates and smaller vessels of war. They were 
poorly built, badly equipped, and manned with 
raw, ignorant, and insufficient crews. 

With this unsatisfactory force it was Admiral 
Jones's mission to act in conjunction with the army 
of the famous Russian general, Suwarrow, in his 
operations against Oczakoff, by blockading the 
water approaches to this military and naval strong- 
hold and by attacking the naval forces of the 
Turks in the Black Sea. 

Early on the morning of the 17th of June 
Admiral Jones, with his flag flying from the mast- 
head of the Vladimir^ engaged the Turkish fleet 
under the command of Reis Dejazet, Capitan Pacha, 
and after sixteen hours of fighting won a complete 
victory — the only naval victory of note in the 
campaign of the Liman. But his fearless and 
uncompromising sincerity in rendering his report 
of the battle roused the implacable enmity of the 



FRENCH AND RUSSIAN HONORS 265 

commander-in-chief and ruined his future in the 
Russian service. 

On his return to St. Petersburg, where he was 
recalled by imperial order, Empress Catharine 
received him with marked consideration and favor. 
She created him vice-admiral, half promised him 
the command of the Baltic fleet, decorated him 
with the Order of St. Anne, and lavished upon 
him every flattering attention. But his enemies, 
who followed him to court, strove with unremit- 
ting villany and animosity to compass his ruin. 
After persecutions that embittered his spirit, and 
a severe attack of pneumonia contracted in the 
cold of the northern seas that undermined his 
health, the Empress gave him leave of absence, 
and on the 18th of August, 1787, he started on a 
long and leisurely journey across Europe. 

On reaching Paris, a consultation of physicians 
pronounced his left lung seriously affected, and 
urged the necessity of winters spent in a warm 
climate. Fortunately for the untrammelled spirit 
of Paul Jones, he did not long survive his shattered 
bodily strength. But while his physical health was 
crippled beyond restoration, his mental grasp and 
energy were still in their full intensity and vigor. 
During the next two years, which were spent 
mostly at Paris, he kept up his lively interest in 
public affairs, and was in close and constant inter- 
course with the prominent public men of those 
tumultuous times. 



26Q VICE-ADMIRAL PAUL JONES 

In the spring of 1792 Admiral Jones sent his 
final resignation to Empress Catharine and severed 
all connection with the Russian navy. He had 
at that time the expectation of an appointment as 
admiral in the French navy — an honor which 
would have been conferred upon him by the Na- 
tional Convention in the fall of 1792 — and he 
was already looking forward with unabated eager- 
ness to the opportunity of leading the ships and 
sailors of republican France against the fleets of 
Great Britain. 

" Would that I were strong as when I long ago 
brought to France the news of Liberty's first great 
victory in the New World ! But ill as I am, there 
is yet something left of the man. ... I am now 
ready to act whenever and wheresoever bidden by 
the voice of France." These were his last public 
words spoken a week before his death. His body 
was rapidly failing, but his spirit was still strong 
as when he drove the little Banger across the seas. 

At nine o'clock, on the evening of the 18th of 
July, 1792, Paul Jones died, with the victorious 
colors of his "unconquered and unstricken" spirit 
flying until the end. 



VISCOUNT LORD HORATIO 

NELSON 

1758-1805 



VISCOUNT LORD HORATIO 

NELSON 

CHAPTER XXII 
THE WORLD'S GREATEST SEA HERO 

There has been perhaps no moment in history 
when times and events stood so ready for the kin- 
dling match of a supreme genius as when Nelson 
came upon the scene. Great men are born to 
great emergencies, and nature and opportunity, ni 
complete accord, united to bring forth the greatest 
sea hero whom the world has known. His life was 
a perfect drama in its happy rise, its glorious 
course, and its end in the hour of victory and of 
the full completion of his mission. 

His work was so perfected that he not only 
made "England mistress of the seas" during 
his lifetime, but bequeathed to her at his death 
that naval supremacy which she has held undis- 
puted for a hundred years. 

He was the personification of naval genius; an 
heroic spirit; a soul enthusiastic, daring, trium- 
phant; a mind single, clear, unerring; a heart 
full of patriotic zeal and devotion ; with scarcely 
enough body to keep him upon the earth. 

269 



270 LORD NELSON 



Horatio Nelson was born on the 29th of Septem- 
ber, 1758.1 His father, Edmund Nelson, was rec- 
tor of Burnham Thorpe, in Norfolk, on the eastern 
coast of England. His motlier, Catherine Suckling, 
a descendant of the famous Walpoles, was the sis- 
ter of Captain Maurice Suckling, under whom 
Nelson first went to sea. 

His schooling was scant, first at the high school 
at Norwich and afterward at North Walsham. 
Although of a weak and sickly constitution, with 
little bodily strength or endurance, his ambition 
from boyhood was to be a seaman, and when in 
1770 he heard that his uncle, Maurice Suckling, had 
been appointed to the command of the Raisonnahle^ 
and was to sail for the Falkland Islands, he begged 
to be allowed to go with him. Captain Suckling's 
well-known exclamation, on hearing that his 
nephew was to accompany him, did not augur a 
brilliant future. " What has poor little Horatio 
done, that he, being so weak, should be sent to 
rough it at sea ? But let him come, and if a can- 
non-ball takes off his head, he will at least be pro- 
vided for." 

The ship on which Nelson thus opened his naval 
career at twelve years of age was soon put out of 
commission, the difference with Spain in connection 

1 Nelson's Letters and Despatches^ selected and edited by J. 
K. Laughton, have formed the basis of this sketch. The most 
masterly and complete work on Nelson is the Life by Captain 
A. T. Mahan. 



THE WORLD'S GREATEST SEA HERO 271 



with the group of islands off Patagonia in the 
South Atlantic having been settled without recourse 
to war. Captain Suckling was transferred to the 
Triumph, which was stationed as guard-ship in 
the Medway, and took with him young Horatio, 
who had lost his mother, and for whom he had prom- 
ised to provide. But the restless and ambitious 
sailor lad did not long remain in inactive harbor 
life. His first voyage was on a West Indian 
merchantman, on which he learned the essentials of 
his profession. From this cruise of one year he 
returned a practical seaman with ample nautical 
knowledge, but also with a horror of the royal 
navy. To dispel this prejudice, his uncle gave 
him active pilot work on the Thames, from Chat- 
ham to the North Foreland, a splendid training in 
confidence and self-dependence. 

In 1773 an expedition was fitted out by the Royal 
Society to sail to the North Pole, and Nelson used 
every effort to be taken in some capacity on the 
voyage. As no boys were allowed by the admi- 
ralty, he went as coxswain to Captain Lutwidge 
of the Carcass, and learned the navigation of the 
ice-bound seas. 

On his return from his Arctic expedition Nelson 
was fifteen years old, and already an able seaman. 
Yet his thirst for maritime knowledge was far from 
satisfied, and he at once applied for a position in 
the squadron under Admiral Hughes, which was 
about to sail for the East Indies. In the Seahorse 



272 LORD NELSON 



of twenty guns he embarked with Captain Farmer, 
as a foremast hand and watched in the foretop. 
Afterward he was promoted to the quarter-deck 
and rated as midshipman. In this voyage he 
covered a wide range of experience, visiting the 
East Indies from Bengal to Bussorah during a 
period of two years. But so long a cruise among 
those fever-stricken, marshy shores nearly proved 
fatal to him. His delicate health was completely 
undermined, and a long illness left him weak and 
reduced to almost a skeleton. He attributes the 
saving of his life to Admiral Hughes, who sent 
him home to England in the Dolphin^ and to the 
care of Captain James Pigot, who nursed him 
with friendly devotion. 

Reaching home in September, 1776, after a 
three years' cruise, we find him in two days going 
to sea again on the Worcester as acting lieutenant. 
The ship was bound for Gibraltar on convoy duty, 
and it was then that Nelson had his first sight of 
the Mediterranean and of the Straits, the future 
scene of some of his bitterest trials and most 
glorious victories. 

Hardly had he returned home after six months 
of convoy duty than he successfully passed his 
examinations for lieutenant, on the 9th of April, 
1772, when he was nineteen years of age, and on 
the following day received his commission as 
second lieutenant to the Lowestoffe^ a frigate of 
thirty-two guns. To Captain William Locker of 



THE WORLD'S GREATEST SEA HERO 273 

the Lowestoffe Nelson owed valuable counsel and 
instruction, and, what was still better, he formed 
with him a devoted and life-long friendship. On 
the Lowestoffe Nelson sailed to the West Indies, 
where he made himself a " complete pilot for all 
the passages through the (Keys) Islands situated 
on the north side of Hispaniola." 

It was of this time that he afterward relates 
the story of his intrepid boarding of an American 
letter of marque. The first lieutenant had been 
ordered to board the prize, but the sea ran so high 
that it was impossible for him to reach her. 
Captain Locker exclaimed, " Have I no officer in 
the ship who can board the prize ? " Whereupon 
Nelson pushing aside the master, who had offered 
to go, with the word, " It is my turn now, and if 
I come back, it is yours," jumped into the boat, and 
after a hard fight secured the prize. In his narra- 
tive Nelson adds, " It is my disposition that diffi- 
culties and dangers do but increase my desire of 
attempting them." 

This was indeed one of his earliest and most 
enduring traits. In his fragile health, which 
twice during his career entirely deprived him of 
the use of his limbs, he had a constant and harass- 
ing "difficulty," that he did not so much over- 
come as thrust aside. At one time on his re- 
turn voyage from the West Indies, when illness 
had emaciated his puny body, he for a moment 
felt with overpowering despondency the great 



274 LORD NELSON 



hindrance of his physical weakness, the almost 
insurmountable obstacles he must meet with in his 
profession, and the small interest he had to win 
promotion. His ambition consumed him, but his 
mind could see no way to fulfil it. " After a long 
and gloomy revery, in which I almost wished 
myself overboard, a sudden flow of patriotism was 
kindled within me and presented my king and 
country as my patrons. My mind exulted in the 
idea. ' Well, then,' I exclaimed, ' I will be a hero, 
and, confiding in Providence, I will brave every 
danger.' " In those early years, and throughout 
his entire life, fame and duty were the two thoughts 
that appealed to him most strongly, and were the 
source of his most ardent inspiration : renown lur- 
ing him ever onward like a ''radiant orb," and 
duty kindling in him the most unswerving and 
fearless devotion. 

That he had strong resolve and self-reliance, we 
can see from the fact that he always took the in- 
itiative in seeking the positions he desired. A 
very fire of energy burned within him, which 
never allowed him a day's inaction even after a 
protracted cruise. He had a daring and an enthu- 
siasm which led him to court obstacles and dan- 
gers for the joy of overcoming them, not from a 
sense of physical strength, as with many men, but 
from a mental scorn of difficulties. He had mar- 
vellous self-concentration by which he could mob- 
ilize every faculty upon the one duty of the 



THE WORLD'S GREATEST SEA HERO 275 

moment. He had the determination to win, 
which made him once exclaim, " I shall live to be 
envied, and to that point I shall always direct 
my course." 

Nelson's promotion was swift. From the Lowe- 
stoffe he was transferred in July, 1778, to the 
Bristol, the flag-ship of the commander-in-chief, 
Sir Peter Parker, and in less than three months 
rose from third lieutenant to first. In the follow- 
ing December he was appointed commander of 
the Badger, brig, and in June, 1779, was made 
post-captain in the Hinchinghrook, frigate. During 
these many changes and promotions his service 
had been mostly confined to cruising among the 
West Indies, more especially Jamaica, and on the 
Mosquito coast of Central America, which was 
being harassed by American privateers. In an 
expedition against Fort San Juan, on the river 
which connects Lake Nicaragua with the sea. 
Nelson showed his characteristic zeal, activity, and 
scorn of difficulties. Leading the troops and 
sailors a hundred miles up the river, he carried by 
assault an outpost of the enemy, erected batteries, 
and pointed almost every gun that was fired. 

But service in a malignant region, where tropi- 
cal exhalations poisoned the air, and the muddy 
swamps reeked with miasma, almost cost him his 
life. When he was appointed to the Janus, he 
was so weakened by sickness and exertion, that 
on his arrival at Jamaica he had to be carried on 



276 LORD NELSON 



shore on a cot. A long and painful illness ended 
in his return to England in the Lion^ and several 
months spent at Bath in slow recovery. 

Scarcely convalescent, Nelson was commissioned 
for the Alhermarle^ and was sent on convoy duty 
to the Baltic, and afterward to Newfoundland, 
Quebec, and Cape Cod. Toward the close of 1782 
he asked to be transferred to Lord Hood's squad- 
ron bound for the Caribbean Sea. " The West 
Indies is the station for honor," he said. Prize- 
money he scorned. He writes later, " True honor, 
I hope, predominates in my mind far above riches." 
By choosing always the road to future distinction, 
he was, in these years of unimportant detail service, 
pressing on to that short but brilliant and glorious 
career which opened in 1793 in the Mediterranean, 
under Lord Hood, to whom he had with prophetic 
and deliberate choice attached himself more than 
ten years before. 

These ten years, from twenty-five to thirty-five, 
were still uneventful in active service, being taken 
up chiefly with the long cruise of the Boreas in 
the West Indies, where he '' destroyed the contra- 
band trade," and brought to light "frauds prac- 
tised in the colonies" — an ungrateful task which he 
attempted at the promptings of high principle and 
loyalty, but which brought upon him deep vexa- 
tion and more censure than appreciation from the 
admiralty. 

For this and for political reasons Nelson fell 



THE WORLD'S GREATEST SEA HERO 277 

for a time into disfavor ; and no influence at court 
or in high admiralty circles could secure him from 
professional neglect. Active employment was the 
prime requirement of his temperament, the sole 
means of embodying his genius, and of reaching 
the goal of his aspirations — honor and fame. To 
deny him exertion, to keep him in stagnant inac- 
tion, was to inflict upon him the severest mortifi- 
cation and disappointment. But even under this 
exasperating indifference. Nelson preserved his 
unalloyed loyalty to his country, to his profession, 
and to his ideal. " It is much better," he says, 
" to serve an ungrateful country than to give up 
his own fame ... a uniform conduct of honor 
and integrity seldom fails of bringing a man to 
the goal of fame at last." 

Neither did he fail to seek, as he had always 
sought of his own initiative, some sort of employ- 
ment ; and he writes to the admiralty, " If your 
Lordships should be pleased to appoint me to a 
cockle-boat, I shall feel grateful." 

Under stress of danger Nelson's appointment, 
so long and ardently desired, at last came to him. 
The aggressive attitude assumed by the French 
republic after the excesses of the Revolution and 
the abolition of royalty culminated in the first week 
of 1793. The declaration of war against Great 
Britain and Holland was issued by the republic on 
February 1st. Two days earlier, Nelson had been 
appointed to the Agamemnon^ a 64-gun ship. 



278 LORD NELSON 



The fulfilment of Nelson's hope brought out in 
him that sanguine cheerfulness, that certainty of 
success, that idealization of men and circumstances, 
which characterized him throughout his life. " We 
are all Avell," he writes in his home letters ; " in- 
deed, nobody could be ill with my ship's company, 
they are so fine a set. ... I have the pleasure of 
telling you that my ship is, without exception, the 
finest sixty-four in the service, and has the char- 
acter of sailing most remarkably well." 

In character Nelson showed at all periods of his 
career a generous, even enthusiastic, appreciation 
of his inferiors, a kindliness and confidence that 
won the ready and willing service of those under 
him. The charm and sweetness of his manner 
had a power to please and to win attachment 
which was irresistible. With the necessity he 
felt for the approbation of others went, hand in 
hand, his sympathy and consideration for those 
who looked up to him as commander. 

These qualities were nowhere more strikingly 
brought out than when he was captain of the Aga- 
memnon^ whose officers and men were united 
in the bonds of a common purpose, hope, and 
inspiration. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 

The opening scene in Nelson's active fighting 
career was laid in the Mediterranean, whose waters 
were thenceforth to be inseparably connected with 
his name. Lord Hood, who was in command of the 
Mediterranean fleet, after many delays sailed in 
June for Gibraltar and from there to Toulon, 
with fifteen ships of the line, among which was the 
Agamemnon. 

On the 16th of July, 1793, the fleet stood close into 
Toulon. The expectation of being joined by the 
squadron of their allies, the Spaniards, had failed. 
At Cadiz, Nelson writes that Spain had very fine 
ships, but that they were shockingly manned, and 
he adds, " The dons may make fine ships ; they can- 
not, however, make men." As it proved, the 
Spanish admiral sent word that nineteen hundred 
of his men were sickly, and that he must go to 
Cartagena. This defection left the British fleet 
inferior to that of the French. 

Marseilles and Toulon were invested by the 
British, and not even a boat could get in with 
provisions; yet it was with profound amazement 

279 



280 LORD NELSON 



that news of the surrender to Lord Hood of Tou- 
lon, twenty-two ships of the line, and the dockyards 
without the firing of a single shot, was received 
throughout Europe. 

Nelson had meanwhile been sent on a detached 
command to Corsica, and reached San Fiorenzo 
Bay early in December. The island of Corsica, 
which had been lately ceded to France by Genoa, 
was in a state of open revolt against the French 
republic. Paoli, the famous insurgent leader, was 
anxious for the help of the British, and Lord Hood 
realized the strategic importance of the island and 
the desirability of making it a British possession. 
He had for this reason despatched Nelson to block- 
ade the ports of Bastia on the east coast of Corsica, 
Calvi on the west, and San Fiorenzo on the north — 
the three seaports held by the French revolution- 
ary troops. Later, after the evacuation of Toulon 
by the British, Lord Hood brought his fleet to 
what had become the scene of action in the war. 

In the reduction of Corsica, Nelson took a promi- 
nent though necessarily subordinate j)art. Before 
the arrival of his commander-in-chief he had so 
successfully invested the shore and blockaded the 
vessels in San Fiorenzo Bay that he contributed 
largely to the reduction of the place by the fleet. 
Active in harassing the coast, he destroyed mer- 
chant vessels, burned mills, and seized stores of 
wine and flour. By blockading the harbor of 
Bastia, reconnoitring the forts and town, and 



IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 281 

furnishing Lord Hood witli a detailed description 
of the defences, he was the principal means of its 
capture. 

He felt sure that five hundred troops, with the 
Agamemnon and frigates, could silence the batteries 
and carry the town by assault. This opinion he 
repeatedly urged on Lord Hood. He writes home 
to England : '•'• Not to attack our enemy I should 
consider as a national disgrace." Although Gen- 
eral Dundas and his successor in command of the 
army. General d'Aubant, both refused to make the 
attack, on the ground that it was " a most visionary 
and rash attempt," Nelson's advice finally prevailed. 

On the 3d of April, 1794, he landed with twelve 
hundred troops and two hundred and fifty sea- 
men, and began the siege of Bastia. His letters 
to Mrs. Nelson show at this time his exultant 
enthusiasm, his unshaken belief in success which 
swept obstacles before it, and his indomitable 
courage. He writes from before Bastia: "Recol- 
lect that a brave man dies but once, a coward 
all his life long. ... I have no fears about 
the final issue of the expedition; it will be vic- 
tory — Bastia will be ours." 

On the 30th of May forty-five hundred French 
troops laid down their arms to twelve hundred 
British soldiers who were serving as marines. 
The British took possession of the town, seventy- 
five pieces of ordnance, a man-of-war, and an in- 
credible amount of stores. " All has been done by 



282 LORD NELSON 



seamen," Nelson triumphantly exclaims. In the 
whole operation of the siege he was the prime 
mover, the cause of success, the vivid, heroic spirit 
who inspired every man beneath him. 

A fortnight after the fall of Bastia Nelson, in 
the Agamemnon^ with two smaller war-ships, twenty- 
two transports and fifteen hundred troops, arrived 
off Calvi, the last of the hostile ports. The disem- 
barking began on the 19th of June. The landing- 
place was bad ; to avoid the rocks the Agamemnon 
anchored a mile from the shore; a gale of wind 
and rain separated the landing party from all com- 
munication with the ships ; the guns, mortars, and 
howitzers were dragged by seamen up the steep 
acclivity and a mile and a half to the spot agreed 
upon for the attack. Throughout the long and 
tedious operation Nelson was active and zealous, 
and at the batteries he did duty on alternate days. 

Although not taking so prominent a part as at the 
siege of Bastia, much of the success of the operation 
was due to his sagacity and disinterested devotion 
to duty. He held, besides, a position of trust and 
influence as the intermediary between Lord Hood, 
with whom he kept in daily communication, and 
General Stuart, who commanded the land forces. 

Although hampered by an insufficient number 
of troops and seamen, and a want of powder and 
shot, the batteries did such good work that the 
outposts of the enemy fell into the hands of the 
British on the 19th of July, and on the 10th of 



IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 283 

August Oalvi surrendered. Nelson, writing to the 
Duke of Clarence on that day, speaks of the deadly 
climate. He says : " It is now what we call the dog- 
days, here it is termed the lion sun ; no person can 
endure it ; we have upwards of one thousand sick 
out of two thousand, and the others not much 
better than so many phantoms." Nelson himself did 
not succumb to the general prostration. The ex- 
altation of action seemed to preserve his body. 
He was, however, wounded while serving at the 
batteries, " in a slight manner," according to him. 
A shot from the enemy drove a large quantity of 
sand into his right eye. Although the wound did 
not at first appear serious, it ended by completely 
depriving him of the sight of the eye. At Bastia 
he had received a cut in the back, but he exults in 
the fact that his hurts had not confined him more 
than a day. 

Besides his wounds, the operations in Corsica 
cost him <£300 sterling, and what was still more 
bitter to endure, he received only neglect and 
lack of recognition from high quarters. But 
here the nobility of his nature sustained him 
with the consciousness of duty well performed. 
To his wife and to his uncle he writes : " However 
services may be received, it is not right in an officer 
to slacken his zeal for his country. ... I have 
ever served faithfully, and ever has it been my 
fate to be neglected ; but that shall not make me 
inattentive to my duty. I have pride in doing my 



284 LORD NELSON 



duty welL" And in regard to prize-money he 
writes to Mrs. Nelson : " Corsica, in respect of prizes, 
produces nothing but honor far above the con- 
sideration of wealth. I trust my name will stand 
on record when the money-makers will be forgot." 

Five days after the fall of Calvi the Agamemnon 
sailed for Leghorn and lay there for a month ; this 
was her first resting-place since she had been com- 
missioned eighteen months before. The crew were 
sick and disabled, and Nelson hoped to return to 
England with Lord Hood, whose command in the 
Mediterranean was to be handed over to Vice- 
admiral Hotham. Lord Hood, in fact, offered to 
transfer him to a seventy-four, but his loyalty to 
his ship and to his men led him to decline the offer. 

The Agamemnon^ therefore, remained in the 
Mediterranean with the fleet under Lord Hotham. 
A wearisome winter it was, divided between watch- 
ing the French fleet at Toulon, lying for a month 
in port at Leghorn for repairs, and a long winter 
cruise interspersed with partial engagements. In 
all of these actions the Agamemnon was always 
foremost, and on the 13th of March, 1795, was the 
only ship to engage unsupported the Ca Ira^ and 
to sustain an intrepid fight within sight and almost 
within gunshot of the entire French fleet. 

During the summer months of 1795 Nelson was 
in command of a detached squadron on the Riviera 
of Genoa. The mission was in a measure one of 
distinction, as it was difficult from both a naval 



IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 285 

and a diplomatic standpoint ; but it brought no 
active fighting and no events of importance. In 
December the Agamemnon went to Leghorn for 
extensive repairs. Nelson's attachment to this 
ship had made him unwilling to abandon her, even 
though he calls her " a rotten ship," and we are 
told that " her hull was kept together by cables," 
and not " a yard, mast, or sail " but needed repair, 
owing to the shot she had received. 

The opening of 1796 was marked by Nelson's 
first meeting with the commander-in-chief with 
whom his name was to be so intimately associated. 
Sir John Jervis, afterward Earl St. Vincent, who 
had succeeded to the command of the Mediterra- 
nean fleet. 

In June, Nelson was transferred to the Captain^ 
a 74-gun ship, and ran up his commodore's 
pennant. Toward the close of the year, Corsica 
was evacuated by the British, and on the 2d of 
November the British fleet quitted the Mediter- 
ranean and retired to Gibraltar. 

The chief event which marked the opening of 
1797 was the first important naval action con- 
nected with the name of Nelson, the battle of Cape 
St. Vincent, fought against the Spaniards, the allies 
of France. At dawn, on the 14th of February, the 
British fleet of fifteen ships of the line, under Sir 
John Jervis, lay twenty-five miles west of Cape 
St. Vincent on the southern coast of Portugal. 
The morning was thick, but soon after eight o'clock 



286 LORD NELSON 



the fog lifted, and the lookouts on the British fleet 
descried the on-coming sail of the grand fleet of 
Spain. It was a formidable sight: twenty-seven 
huge ships, among them the great Santissima 
Trinidad of one hundred and twenty-six guns, and 
the San Josef of one hundred and twelve guns. 
One was a four-decker, the largest ship afloat, and 
seven were three-deckers, all carrying over one 
hundred and twelve guns. Divided in two sepa- 
rate sections, the Spanish ships were ranged in an 
awkward line of battle, and seemed unable to unite. 

At daylight the British admiral made the signal 
to prepare for battle, at eleven o'clock to form the 
line, and at half-past eleven the action began. 
Nelson's ship was thirteenth in the line. The plan 
of Sir John was to run between the two divisions 
of the enemy's fleet and thus prevent their junc- 
tion. This he succeeded in doing, and after a 
brisk cannonading he made the signal to " tack 
in succession." At this point Nelson's wonderful 
resolution, quickness, and independence, his power 
to see and seize a fleeting opportunity, assured the 
victory. 

Seeing that it was the intention of the Spanish 
admiral to run behind the British column and unite 
his divisions. Nelson, without order or signal, 
passed from the rear, between the Diadem and 
Excellent, and reaching the Spanish column before 
the British van could possibly have come up, he 
engaged single-handed the huge Santissima Trini- 



IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 287 

dad. Soon the Culloden^ leader of the British van, 
came to his support, and for an hour the two 
plucky British ships engaged unaided nine line-of- 
battle ships of the enemy. Afterward the Blen- 
heim and the Excellent joined them, and compelled 
the San Ysidro and the Salvador del Mundo to 
strike. 

Nelson's ship, the Captain^ was a wreck in hull 
and masts, "not a sail, shroud, or rope left, her 
wheel shot away, and incapable of further service 
in the line or in chase." She was at this time 
alongside the San Nicolas^ and Nelson calling for 
the boarders ordered them to board the enemy. 
Captain Berry was the first to leap on to the 
Spanish liner, and Nelson himself soon followed. 
The soldiers of the sixty-ninth regiment were 
foremost on the service. A few volleys were ex- 
changed. Berry got possession of the poop and 
hauled down the Spanish colors, and Nelson on 
the forecastle received the swords of the Spanish 
officers. 

At this moment the San Josef opened fire on 
the British in the San Nicolas. Nelson promptly 
called for reenforcements from the Captain., and 
from the deck of the enemy's ship boarded a first- 
rate three-decker. Scarcely had Nelson entered 
the second Spanish ship than an officer leaned over 
the rail and called out that they surrendered, " and 
on the quarter-deck of a Spanish first-rate, extrava- 
gant as the story may seem, did I receive the 



288 LORD NELSON 



swords of vanquished Spaniards," writes Nelson in 
his account of the action. 

Later the Victory^ Jervis's flag-ship, passed the 
group of the disabled Captain and its two magnifi- 
cent prizes, and saluted with three cheers, as did 
every ship in the fleet. 

Leaving his worn-out ship, Nelson hoisted his 
pennant first on the Minerve, and later on the 
Irresistible ; but the day was too far advanced for 
further action. Sir Gilbert Elliot wrote after- 
ward to Nelson: "To have had any share in 
yesterday's glory is honor enough for one man's 
life ; but to have been foremost on such a day could 
fall to your share alone." 

Before the news of Nelson's brilliant action 
reached England, he had already been promoted 
to the rank of rear-admiral of the Blue ; but when 
his gallant and successful conduct in the glorious 
victory of St. Valentine's Day was fully known in 
high circles, he was invested with the Knighthood 
of the Bath — an honor he greatly coveted. 

Close upon this victory followed the blockade 
and bombardment of Cadiz. Nelson, who had 
shifted his flag to the Theseus^ was in command of 
the inner squadron numbering ten ships of the line, 
and upon him devolved all the active duties and 
responsibilities of the blockade. The bombard- 
ment, which was intended to force the Spanish 
fleet to come out and fight, resulted in nothing 
more than a sharp encounter at close quarters be- 



IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 289 

tween the Spanish and British launches, in which 
Nelson distinguished himself by his personal cour- 
age more perhaps than at any other period of his 
life. 

By a vigorous and gallant attack the British so 
successfully repelled the sortie of Spanish mortar- 
gunboats and armed launches that they were driven 
back close under the walls of Cadiz. Nelson, 
always generous, and warmly appreciative of his 
subordinates, gives on this occasion the highest 
praise to the noble conduct of his officers and 
men. 

On the 14th of July, 1797, Nelson received orders 
to sail for Santa Crux. It had been with him for 
some time a favorite and well-meditated project to 
make a dash on Teneriffe, one of the islands of the 
Canary group, and seize the Spanish treasure- 
ships that had, he believed, sought shelter there ; 
135,000,000 was worth an attempt at capture. 

While the British fleet lay before Cadiz, Jervis 
had received information that a ship belonging to 
the Philippine Company, El Principe d'Asturias^ 
bound from Manila to Cadiz, and laden with rich 
treasure belonging to the crown of Spain, was at 
Santa Crux. This was the opportunity to put 
into execution Nelson's plan, which he had, some 
time previously, laid before the admiral. 

Placed in command of four line-of-battle ships, 
three frigates carrying the landing party a thou- 
sand strong under Captain Troubridge, and one 



290 LORD NELSON 



cutter, Nelson sailed for Santa Crux in the middle 
of July on the expedition that was to be the first 
failure of his career — one that cost him deep 
mortification and great physical suffering. 

He had planned a vigorous and sudden attack. 
The boats, with the troops and the* scaling ladders, 
were ordered to land in the night, but a heavy gale 
of wind and a strong current prevented them from 
approaching the shore until daybreak. As the 
surprise, under cover of the darkness, could not be 
carried out, the party returned to the ships, which 
were now clearly visible to the Spaniards. It was 
next proposed to storm the heights behind the fort, 
while the battle-ships let fly their batteries ; but 
calms and contrary currents kept the large ships 
out of range. 

The honor of his country required. Nelson 
thought, a last although hopeless attempt. He 
afterward wrote : " Although I felt the second 
attack a forlorn hope, yet the honor of our 
country called for the attack, and that I should 
command it. I never expected to return." His 
pride had suffered in the failure of the first attempt, 
and his regret was all the more keen since he 
believed, and no doubt rightly, that had he led 
it in person it would have been crowned with 
complete success. On the 24th of July, a few 
hours before the second attempt, he wrote to 
Jervis : " To-morrow my head will probably be 
crowned with either laurel or cypress." There 



IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 291 

was, indeed, small hope of success. The Spaniards 
had had four days in which to strengthen their 
works and increase the number of their troops. 
They were well prepared for a vigorous defence. 

At eleven o'clock at night the boats carrying 
about seven hundred and fifty men advanced tow- 
ard the town, headed by Nelson, who led the way 
in his barge. The place of landing was to be the 
mole, and after that point had been carried, the 
troops were to form in the square. Scarcely were 
the boats within half gunshot of the mole than 
they were discovered, and a sharp fire of forty 
pieces of cannon and musketry opened upon them 
from one end of the town to the other. 

The night was dark, and the surf high. Many 
of the boats missed the landing ; they were full 
of water in a minute, and stove against the rocks. 
The ladders were all lost in the surf, and the 
ammunition was wet and useless. Meanwhile 
Nelson, with four or five boats, stormed the mole 
and took possession of it, although it was defended 
by almost five hundred men. But the heavy fire 
from the citadel and town did such havoc among 
the British seamen that they were forced to retreat. 

A grapeshot struck Nelson in the right elbow 
as he was about to land on the mole. His step- 
son, Josiah Nisbet, placed him in the bottom of a 
boat, bound his wound tightly, and pushed back to 
the ships. As they were pulling over the stormy 
sea, a shot struck the cutter Fox under water, and 



292 LOKD NELSON 



she went clown with all on board. Nelson, although 
suffermg at the time from intense pain, insisted on 
waiting to try and save the men who were strug- 
gling in the water. 

When they finally reached the Theseus^ a rope 
was thrown over and with wonderful spirit he 
jumped up the ship's side, declining all assistance, 
and called to the surgeon to bring his instruments, 
for he knew his arm must be amputated. 

The feeling of bitterness over his failure and the 
loss of his arm can be seen in his letters to the 
commander-in-chief. He writes, a few days after 
the attack : " I am become a burthen to my friends 
and useless to my country. When I leave your 
command, I become dead to the world ; I go 
hence, and am no more seen." And three weeks 
later he said : " A left-handed admiral will never 
again be considered as useful." 

Yet it was after this, when he went forth again 
a one-eyed and one-armed admiral, that the glori- 
ous lustre of his renown was to burst suddenly into 
flame and to burn undimmed to the end. 

Nelson was given leave on the 20th of August 
to return home for the recovery of his wound, and 
after a painful voyage, during which he suffered 
agonies from the imperfect amputation, he reached 
Spithead in September. With how much truth he 
could say, " Success covers a multitude of blunders, 
and the want of it hides the greatest gallantry and 
good conduct." In spite of his despondency and 



IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 293 

bitter distress, and while still suffering torture from 
his poor stump, he writes to Jervis, now Lord St. 
Vincent, in the following October, " The moment 
I am cured, I shall offer myself for service." 

On the 19th of December the Vanguard^ a 
74-gun ship, was commissioned at Chatham, and 
on the 29th of March, 1798, Nelson, now entirely 
recovered, hoisted his flag as rear-admiral of the 
Blue. In April he again sailed for the Mediter- 
ranean, and on the last day of the month joined 
Lord St. Vincent off Cadiz. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 

The period of Nelson's brief and dazzling course, 
which carried him to the highest pinnacle of re- 
nown, and left him the prince and master of the 
sea, covered eight short but eventful years. 

Nelson was thirty-nine when he sailed forth to 
win the trio of his marvellous triumphs — Aboukir, 
Copenhagen, Trafalgar. He was forty-seven when 
he died in the fulness of his glory and the comple- 
tion of his work. 

History had been preparing his opportunity. A 
crisis in European politics was imminent. At the 
moment when he joined the fleet off the coast of 
Spain, in April, 1798, a turning-point in the policy 
of the two chief opponents was fast approaching. 
France, who had made peace with most of the con- 
tinental powers and had extended her influence 
over all adjoining countries, was concentrating her 
forces against Great Britain with the avowed pur- 
pose of destroying the British monarchy. Active 
preparations were being urged forward in the sea- 
port towns on the Mediterranean, both at the 

294 



THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 295 

southern ports of France and at the friendly ports 
of Italy. Ships of the line, transports, and troops 
were assembling in large numbers, and an exten- 
sive naval expedition was evidently being planned. 
This enterprise, which afterward proved to be the 
famous expedition of General Bonaparte to Egypt, 
was kept such a profound secret that its destina- 
tion was not even surmised by the British. But 
the British government was sufficiently alarmed to 
decide on abandoning its purely defensive policy 
and adopting an active offensive attitude. 

Hardly had Nelson reached Cadiz, therefore, 
when Lord St. Vincent placed under his command 
two ships of the line, the Orion and the Alexander^ 
and four frigates, and sent him to watch Toulon 
and follow the movements of the French fleet. 
This was the first step in the memorable campaign 
of the Nile. 

From off Cape Sicie, Nelson reported to the com- 
mander-in-chief that nineteen sail of the line lay in 
the harbor of Toulon, that vessels with troops fre- 
quently arrived from Marseilles, that twelve thou- 
sand men were already embarked, and that report 
said the armament was to sail in a few days. By an 
unfortunate mishap the French fleet slipped out of 
harbor unknown to Nelson. On the night of the 
20th of May a strong gale had dismasted the Van- 
guard^ and she was towed to a port on the coast of 
Sardinia for repairs. By the 27th the repairs were 
completed ; but during the storm the frigates had 



296 LORD NELSON 



become separated from the main squadron, and 
precious days were lost in waiting for them. 

Meanwhile urgent instructions had reached Lord 
St. Vincent from the home government to send a 
strong detachment into the Mediterranean under 
Nelson for the purpose of defeating the French 
expedition. At once the commander-in-chief de- 
spatched a reenforcement of ten ships, and at the 
same time wrote to Nelson : " You, and you only, 
can command the important service in contem- 
plation." 

On the 7th of June Nelson started on his famous 
pursuit of Bonaparte, hampered by the absence of 
his lookout ships, but filled with the unswerving 
determination to find and fight the French fleet. 
" You may be assured I will fight them the moment 
I can reach, be they at anchor or under sail," he 
writes to St. Vincent. 

The French had a long start, and all that Nelson 
knew of them was that they had sailed southward 
between Italy and Corsica, and were seen by a 
passing vessel off the north end of Sicily steering 
to the eastward. The British fleet sailed in their 
track, picking up news on the way from passing 
cruisers. It was a long and tedious search. Baf- 
fled at every point by want of frigates, Nelson lost 
weeks in harrowing uncertainty and suspense 
before he discovered the enemy. 

On the 15th of June he learned from a Tunisian 
cruiser that the French had been seen off Trapani 



THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 297 



in Sicily ; on the 26th news came to him off Cape 
Passaro that, having possessed themselves of Malta, 
the whole fleet of sixteen sail of the line, frigates, 
bomb-vessels, and three hundred transports had left, 
still sailing eastward. Nelson was now convinced 
that it was the intention of Bonaparte to take pos- 
session of some port in Egypt, establish himself at 
the head of the Red Sea, and carry a formidable 
army into Hindustan. If this surmise were cor- 
rect, British interests in India were in imminent 
danger. 

Nelson at this point had nothing to go by except 
his own rapid judgment and the scant information 
he had been able to collect. When the French 
fleet left Malta, the wind was blowing strong from 
one point north of due west. The enemy could 
not, then, have sailed for the Barbary coast or 
Spain. The immense armament, including "forty 
thousand troops in two hundred and eighty trans- 
ports, many hundred pieces of artillery, wagons, 
draught-horses, cavalry, artificers, naturalists, as- 
tronomers, mathematicians, etc.," as Nelson enu- 
merates them in a letter to St. Vincent, could not 
have been destined for the easy reduction of 
Malta. It was some far vaster scheme that was 
afloat. Where had they gone? And here Nelson 
again regrets with deep feeling his want of frigates 
and adds, "If one-half the frigates your Lordship 
had ordered under my command had been with 
me, I could not have wanted information of the 



298 LORD NELSON 



French fleet." Two months later he writes : " Was 
I to die this moment, ' Want of frigates ' would be 
found stamped on my heart." 

At this juncture Nelson signalled his most 
trusted captains to come on board the Vanguard^ 
and after consultation with them decided to head 
for Alexandria. " To do nothing, I felt was dis- 
graceful," he writes, and this, indeed, was his con- 
stant feeling ; " therefore I made use of my 
understanding, and by it I ought to stand or fall." 
Under crowded sail the British fleet pressed on 
toward Alexandria. 

The next few days were a time of cruel suspense 
and agitation, the culmination of the long, anxious, 
and perplexing search. The British fleet sighted 
Alexandria on the 20th, and not a French sail was 
to be seen, nor could any information be gathered 
of their whereabouts. Nelson's disappointment 
and mortification were keen. The long strain had 
ended in failure. His judgment had apparently 
gone astray. Little did he then dream that, start- 
ing as he did so far behind the French, he had out- 
stripped them by several days, and that his unerring 
reasoning powers had led him to the appointed 
destination before Bonaparte had arrived. The 
French fleet had veered to the south shore of 
Candia, and under cover of the night and a dense 
fog the two hostile armaments had been within 
sight of each other but hidden from view. Not 
knowing this, Nelson, impatient of delay, stretched 



THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 299 



his fleet over the coast of Asia, then, under press 
of sail night and day, steered along the northern 
shore of the Mediterranean, and, passing by Candia, 
returned to Syracuse. 

On the 20th of July he writes to Sir William 
Hamilton : " I cannot find, or to this moment learn, 
beyond vague conjecture, where the French fleet 
are gone. Having gone a round of six hundred 
leagues with an expedition incredible, here I am 
as ignorant of the situation of the enemy as I was 
twenty-seven days ago." 

But this want of success, and his extreme vexa- 
tion and nervous anxiety, did not deter Nelson 
from beginning the search again. On the 23d of 
July the fleet had watered and revictualled, and 
lay unmoored in the harbor of Syracuse, waiting 
for a favorable wind. Again Nelson sailed east- 
ward and southward, convinced that Egypt was 
the goal of the French. " Neither our former dis- 
appointment," writes Captain Berry in his account 
of the chase, " nor the hardships we had endured 
from the heat of the climate, though we were still 
to follow an uncertain pursuit, could deter the 
admiral from steering to that point where there 
was a chance of finding the enemy." 

Six days after leaving Syracuse the British fleet 
under crowded sail sighted the Pharos of Alexan- 
dria, and there in Aboukir Bay, fifteen miles from 
the port, rode the French fleet in solid battle 
array. 



800 LORD NELSON 



The meeting did not find Nelson unprepared. 
During the whole of the long cruise it had been 
his custom to summon the captains of the ships on 
board the Vanguard^ and to discuss every possible 
situation of the enemy. In these conferences he 
would lay before them his plans of attack under 
every imaginable condition, whether they should 
meet the French by day or by night, in open sea 
or at anchor. In this way he had familiarized his 
captains with his different ideas and plans, so that 
when the moment presented itself there would be 
no time lost in conferences or manoeuvres. Each 
one knew beforehand the intentions of his chief. 
The happy result of this method was at once seen 
at Aboukir. 

At three o'clock in the afternoon the French 
fleet was first sighted by Captain Hood of the 
Zealous^ who signalled the number of ships to 
Nelson. The distance between the two fleets was 
too great for anything but immediate action. In 
any event the British could not reach their oppo- 
nents until almost nightfall. There was no time 
for a council of war, but "the admiral's designs 
were as fully known to his whole squadron as was 
his determination to conquer, or perish in the 
attempt," writes Captain Berry. 

Two of the ships, the Alexander and the Swift- 
sure^ had been sent on the previous evening to 
reconnoitre Alexandria, and the Culloden^ having 
captured a French brig, was sfeven miles astern 



THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 301 

towing in the prize. Signals were made in quick 
succession from the admiral's ship to prepare for 
battle, and for the Culloden to quit her prize ; and 
at 4 : 54 that it was the admiral's intention to attack 
the van and centre of the enemy. At 5 : 40 Nelson 
made the signal to form the line of battle ahead 
and astern of the admiral. 

In his official report of the battle to St. Vincent, 
written on the 3d of August, Nelson announces 
the victory in a few lines, beginning, "Almighty 
God has blessed his Majesty's arms in the late 
battle by a great victory over the fleet of the 
enemy." It is from the extended accounts by 
Captain Berry of the Vanguard and Captain 
Miller of the Theseus that we know the details 
of this wonderful battle fought in the inky dark- 
ness of the night, in waters and among islands 
and headlands entirely unknown to every officer 
in the British fleet. 

When the enemy were discovered, they were 
nine or ten miles to the southward, with Aboukir 
promontory and island and a network of danger- 
ous shoals and reefs between. The French fleet 
was moored in a strong and compact line of battle, 
flanked by gunboats and frigates, and with a bat- 
tery of guns and mortars on an island in their van. 
Nelson's quick and penetrating eye at once saw 
the weak point in the enemy's position; he saw 
that where there was room for an enemy's ship to 
swing, there was room for a British ship to anchor. 



LORD NELSON 



By taking up positions inside as well as outside 
of the French line, he could concentrate his fire on 
the van and centre of the enemy, while the wind 
would prevent the rear of the French from coming 
to the assistance of their consorts. 

Swinging around Aboukir point and giving the 
shoals a safe berth, the British line advanced upon 
the enemy in a single column. The Goliath and 
Zealous led the way. Next came the Orion, the 
Audacious, and the Theseus; the Vanguard, Nel- 
son's flag-ship, following sixth in the line. At 
half-past six, a few minutes before sunset, the 
action began, and at 6:40 the admiral made the 
signal to engage the enemy close. 

The British ships advanced with silent guns, 
the men aloft and on deck were furling sails, haul- 
ing braces, and making ready to cast anchor. As 
they swung in to take their positions the whole 
fire of the French broadsides was turned into their 
bows. But with gallant and masterly daring the 
G-oliath and Zealous turned the enemy's flank 
under a raking fire, and passed inside their line. 
Next followed the Orion, Theseus, and Audacious^ 
on the inshore side, while the Vanguard and four 
other ships engaged the van and centre on the 
outside. 

The French, finding themselves between two 
fires, made a firm resistance. The action at once 
became general and vigorous. The Theseus closed 
suddenly with the Cruerrier, her rigging within 



THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 303 

six feet of the enemy's jib-boom, and opened a 
deadly fire, every gun being loaded with two or 
three round shot. In the drawing of a breath 
the main and mizzen masts of the G-uerrier fell, 
her foremast having gone before. In twenty min- 
utes the Co7iquerant and the Spartiate were also 
dismasted. 

Then total darkness fell on both fleets. Only 
the flash and glare of the cannon illumined the 
night, and the four horizontal lights on the mizzen 
peak of every British ship shone like stars among 
the rigging. 

The British force engaged had until now counted 
twelve ships of seventy-four guns, and the Leander 
of fifty, against sixteen ships of the French, some 
of which carried as many as eighty and one hun- 
dred and twenty guns. The OuUoden, after the 
signal from the admiral's ship to quit her prize, 
had made all sail to reach the scene of action. 
Her gallant captain, Troubridge, Nelson's trusted 
friend and adviser, from his over-anxiety and zeal 
to join the fleet, ran too close to the dangerous 
rocks, which his chief had cleared with such happy 
caution, and his ship grounded on the tail of the 
shoal. Filled with anguish and bitter disappoint- 
ment, Troubridge exerted every effort to get her 
off. For hours, all through the night, he and the 
ship's company worked with anxious zeal ; but the 
ship stuck fast, and lay beating against the rocks 
almost within gunshot of the hostile fleets. Trou- 



304 LORD NELSON 



bridge's only consolation, though a slight one, was 
that he served as a beacon and a warning to the 
Alexander and the Swiftsure^ which were hasten- 
ing under crowded sail from the harbor of Alexan- 
dria to Aboukir Bay. Saved by his signals from 
a similar fate, the two seventy-fours rounded 
the reef and swept into action at about eight 
o'clock. Soon after this reserve force had entered 
the scene, two other French ships, the Aquilon and 
the Peuple Souverain^ were dismasted and silenced 
and fell into the hands of the British. 

Captain Miller of the Theseus writes to his wife : 
" Having now brought all our ships into battle, 
you are to suppose it raging in all magnificent, 
awful, and horrific grandeur." We can, in fact, 
well picture to ourselves the superb and awful 
power of the scene : the black sea, and blacker sky ; 
the clouds of dense smoke ; the sudden flashings 
from the cannons' mouth which lit the sky with 
crimson fire and spread a deep, lurid glow over 
the thick smoke; the shattered rigging and the 
riddled hulls ; the fearful crash on crash of the 
deadly broadsides ; the creaking, shivering, crush- 
ing sound of rended wood, and the heavy fall of 
masts. 

Five ships of the French van had surrendered, 
but in the centre of the line still rode the formid- 
able flag-ship of Admiral Brueys, the Orient^ a 120- 
gun ship, the Tonnant of eighty guns, and the 
Heureux, Even these were now completely in 



THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 305 

the power of the British, and could scarcely fail to 
be taken. Victory was assured. 

But in the very face of success, Nelson lay in 
the cockpit, severely wounded in the head. In 
the heat of the attack, at about half-past eight, a 
missile struck his forehead, blinding him completely 
for the moment. As he fell into Captain Berry's 
arms he exclaimed, " I am killed ; remember me 
to my wife ! " He was carried below at once, and 
the surgeon came forward to attend to him, but he 
insisted on waiting until his turn came, although 
the pain was intense. After his wound was 
dressed, while he was still suffering and blinded, 
he groped for pen and paper and scrawled the first 
words of his despatch to St. Vincent, announcing 
the victory. 

While Nelson lay below, word was brought to 
him that the ship Orient was on fire. He at once 
ordered himself to be carried on deck, and from 
there witnessed the most dramatic and fearful 
scene of the night. At about nine o'clock the 
poop of the French flag-ship caught fire. The 
Swiftsure and the Alexander turned the full force 
of their batteries into the burning ship, the flames 
spread rapidly, and before long the whole after 
part was in a blaze. 

By the light of the vast conflagration, towering 
high toward the heavens, every ship loomed out in 
huge, lurid shapes, every mast and spar and rope 
was outlined against the fiery sky, and even the 



306 LORD NELSON 



colors could be seen flying at the mastheads and 
proclaiming the hostile countries. 

While their ship was wrapped in flames, the 
heroic Frenchmen on the lower decks still worked 
at their guns, and the cannonading to leeward still 
kept up. At ten o'clock a fearful explosion rent 
the air ; then a pause, and the silence of death. 
The eyes of all were fixed on the mighty wreck, 
and on the flaming masts and yards, carried like 
rockets high into the black sky, and then falling 
still aflame into the water and on the surrounding 
ships. 

The awful, breathless stillness was broken. 
Then all became feverish activity, fire-buckets 
and engines were brought out to save the threat- 
ened ships. Fire had started on the Alexander^ 
but soon the flames were extinguished. Nelson, 
full of concern for the lives of the poor Frenchmen, 
ordered out from the Vanguard the only boat that 
could swim, and his example was immediately fol- 
lowed by the captains of the other ships. Many 
of the unfortunate crew of the Orient were thus 
saved. 

On this scene of devastation the moon rose and 
spread her pale, cold light over the turmoil and 
confusion of the battle. 

Firing had recommenced and was kept up until 
three o'clock in the morning, with only ten minutes' 
total cessation. Victory having been secured in 
the van and the centre, a number of British ships 



I 



THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 307 

moved on to concentrate their fire on the French 
rear. By this time the men were tired and ex- 
hausted, and, writes Captain Miller of the Theseus^ 
" As soon as they had hove our sheet anchor up, 
they dropped under the capstan-bars, and were 
asleep in a moment in every sort of posture, hav- 
ing been then working at their fullest exertion 
or fighting for near twelve hours." 

Efforts gradually became more fitful and unsys- 
tematic. Worn out with exertion and fatigue, de- 
prived of their tireless and unparalleled leader to 
guide and personally direct them, the captains 
failed to make a last united attack which would 
not have allowed a single ship to escape. The 
Genereux and Cruillaume Tell^ with two frigates, 
cut tlieir cables and stood out to sea. The Zealous 
started in pursuit, but she had suffered much in 
her rigging and there was little hope of her reach- 
ing the Frenchmen. As no other ship could sup- 
port her, she was recalled by the admiral. 

Notwithstanding his magnificent victory. Nelson 
was dissatisfied that a single ship should have 
escaped him, and not until many months later, 
when he succeeded in capturing in the Mediterra- 
nean the very ships that had eluded him at the 
Nile, did he feel that he had completely carried out 
St. Vincent's instructions to " take, sink, burn, or 
destroy "the armament of France. 

The whole of the 2d of August was taken up 
with securing the French ships that had struck 



308 LORD NELSON 



and in attending to the wounded. In the morning 
Nelson had issued the following memorandum to 
the captains of the fleet : — 

" 'Vanguard,' off the Mouth of the Nile, 
"2d August, 1798. 

"Almighty God having blessed His Majesty's 
arms with victory, the Admiral intends returning 
Public Thanksgiving for the same at two o'clock 
this day ; and he recommends every ship doing the 
same as soon as convenient. 

"Horatio Nelson." 

On that and the two following nights the Arabs 
and the Mamelukes, who had been spectators of 
the battle and had lined the shores of the bay all 
through that memorable night, illuminated the 
whole length of the coast and the country, as far 
as eye could see, in celebration of the victory. 

The inspiring news did not reach Great Britain 
until two months after the victory. When the 
nation realized the full extent of this decisive 
success, exultation filled the land, and popular 
enthusiasm rose to the highest pitch of excitement. 
Nelson was raised to the dignity of a baron with 
the title of Baron Nelson of the Nile — a reward 
far from equal to the greatness of his achievement, 
since it was the lowest rank in the peerage. 
Greater pleasure was given him by the many 
tokens and congratulations which he received from 
every part of the globe. The Parliament of Great 



THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 309 

Britain voted him 810,000 yearly, the East India 
Company presented him with 150,000, the city of 
London sent him the gift of a sword. The city of 
Palermo, the island of Zante, the captains who 
served under him, all offered him tributes of their 
admiration. The Emperor of Russia, the King of 
Sardinia, the King of the Sicilies, the Sultan, sent 
him rich presents — a diamond aigrette, boxes set 
with diamonds, and a sword richly ornamented 
with diamonds. 

Meanwhile Nelson was gathering up the fruits 
of his great victory. Anchored between Alex- 
andria and Rosetta to prevent all communication 
along the coast, he felt the importance of holding 
this position as long as possible. "The French 
army is in a scrape," he writes on the 11th of 
August; "they are up the Nile without supplies." 
In a week's time six of the prizes were in a con- 
dition to sail and were sent with seven ships, 
under Sir James Saumarez, to Gibraltar. 

The task of refitting the squadron Nelson felt 
to be almost beyond his power. The pain and 
suffering from his wound in the head continued 
to make him dazed and bewildered, and he was 
doubtful whether he would be able to stay in the 
Mediterranean. But on the 15th of August he 
received secret orders from the commander-in-chief 
to return from Alexandria, as further important 
operations were being planned. Leaving Captain 
Hood with three line-of-battle ships and three frig- 



310 LORD NELSON 



ates to blockade Alexandria, intercept French 
supplies, and prevent communications, Nelson or- 
dered the three remaining prizes to be burned, and 
hastened his departure. Sailing westward about 
the 19th of August, he anchored at Naples on the 
22d of September to repair and refit his disabled 
and " rotten " ships. 

At Naples he was received with the wildest 
demonstrations of joy. Flattery and adulation 
were heaped upon him. He had arrived worn out 
with excitement and anxiety, weakened and irri- 
tated by his wound and the fever which set in 
after it. 

New traits of character now develop. Nelson, 
who, until the battle of the Nile, had always been 
sanguine, hopeful, generous, buoyant, genial, en- 
thusiatic, thoughtful for others, who had idealized 
life and events and men, becomes after his wound in 
the head somewhat complaining, peevish, and irri- 
table, more ready to criticise others, more despond- 
ent about his own condition. His love of praise 
and admiration, from being a weakness, grows to be 
a fault. His strength of moral purpose and noble 
grandeur of character suffer a loss, while his guid- 
ing intellect, his renown, his glory, the lustre of 
his achievements, and his heroic patriotism con- 
tinue untarnished to the end. 

A stay of several months at the Neapolitan 
court ; the flight of the king and queen of Naples 
in the Vanguard^ under Nelson's protection, to 



THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 311 



Palermo ; a residence in the Sicilies ; the blockade 
of the Bay of Naples by Captain Troubridge, and 
the evacuation of the city and neighboring islands 
by the French, were the events of the winter of 
1798-1799. 

Early in May word was brought to Nelson at 
Palermo that a French fleet of nineteen sail of the 
line had slipped out of Brest and joined the Span- 
ish fleet of twenty-seven ships of the line at Cadiz. 
Nelson at once was all energy and activity. The 
definite emergency roused him from his depression 
and discontent. Sending for Troubridge in the 
Bay of Naples, and for Captain Ball off Malta, he 
collected with all possible haste a squadron of ten 
or more sail of the line, and cruised in the Medi- 
terranean in the hope of getting news of the 
enemy. But the French had succeeded in elud- 
ing him. After a fruitless search Nelson returned 
again to Palermo. 

Early in 1800 he was cheered by the capture, 
after a hot action, of the G-eiiereux and G-uillaume 
Tell, the two line-of-battle ships that had escaped 
him at the Nile. " My task is done, my health is 
finished, and probably my retreat forever fixed," 
he writes, after the surrender of the Gruillaume 
Tell. 

The long blockade and siege of Malta to which 
he had been detached by Lord Keith, the succes- 
sor of St. Vincent as commander-in-chief of the 
Mediterranean fleet, completed the undermining 



312 LORD NELSON 



of his health. His state of extreme exhaustion 
increased day by day, and he was at last permitted 
by the admiralty to return to England. Striking 
his flag in the Mediterranean, he made the journey 
by land, crossing the Continent and arriving at 
Yarmouth on the 6th of November. He at once 
reported his health to be entirely restored, and 
expressed his desire to serve immediately, as it 
was not his wish " to be a moment out of active 



CHAPTER XXV 

"ENGLAND MISTRESS OF THE SEAS" 

Early in 1801 Nelson hoisted his flag as vice- 
admiral of the Blue on the aS'^. G-eorge^ and re- 
ceived orders to place himself under Sir Hyde 
Parker, who had been appointed to the North Sea 
command. On the 12th of March a fleet of six- 
teen ships of the line, with a number of frigates, 
sloops of war, bombs, and smaller craft, making 
a total of fifty-three sail, put to sea from Yarmouth 
Roads and headed for the Baltic. 

The expedition upon which Great Britain was 
about to embark was an attempt to settle by arms 
her misunderstandings with Denmark over the 
right of belligerents to search neutral ships for 
contrabands of war. Great Britain maintained 
her right ; Denmark resisted it. Russia had joined 
her claims to those of Denmark, emphasizing her 
hostile attitude by the seizure in Russian ports of 
three hundred British merchant vessels, and the 
two Baltic countries combined with Sweden and 
Prussia to form an armed neutrality. While no 
formal declaration of war had been issued, Great 
Britain despatched her fleet to maintain her rights 
in northern waters. 

313 



314 LORD NELSON 



Nelson was impatient of every delay. "Time 
is everything," he once said, "five minutes make 
the difference between victory and defeat." His 
plan would have been to sail with all possible 
speed for the mouth of Copenhagen harbor, and 
bring the Northern Coalition to decisive terms, 
either for peace or immediate war. Every hour 
gave the Danes time to make preparations for 
defence. 

On the 19th of May the British fleet reached 
the Skaw, the northernmost point of Denmark. 
More delays and vacillations on the part of the com- 
mander-in-chief exasperated Nelson, whose prin- 
ciple was to "strike quick, and home." Missing 
a fair wind which would have carried them 
through the Kattegat, and another fair wind which 
would have taken them through the Sound, the 
fleet finally made a false start up the Great Belt, 
only to return to its former anchorage. 

At last, at daylight, on the morning of the 30th, 
with a top-sail breeze blowing from the northwest, 
the signal was made to sail in order of battle 
through the Sound. Nelson had shifted his flag 
from the St. Greorge to the Elephant as being a 
lighter and faster ship. His plan of operations, 
which he laid before Sir Parker, showed his 
masterly comprehension of the situation, his 
energetic, bold, and impetuous spirit, and was 
in the main accepted as the working plan of 
attack. 



^'ENGLAND MISTRESS OF THE SEAS" 315 

Copenhagen was the goal of the operations. 
Led by Nelson in the van, the fleet passed through 
the Sound unmolested by the Swedish batteries. 
The Danes opened fire from one hundred pieces of 
cannon and mortars, but the shower of shot fell 
a cable's length from the British ships and did no 
harm. The whole fleet anchored five miles below 
Copenhagen. Sir Hyde Parker and Nelson, ac- 
companied by several senior captains, at once re- 
connoitred the harbor and channels in a schooner. 

The enemy had taken advantage of the British 
delays to strengthen their defences, and had made 
formidable preparations for resistance. Their line 
of defence covered four miles from end to end ; 
a floating battery, extending along the coast for 
almost two miles, was made up of the hulls of 
seven line -of -battle ships, unrigged and filled with 
ordnance, ten pontoons, a bomb-ship, and many 
smaller craft. Several shore batteries and the 
Trekroner, or Three-crown Battery, an artificial 
island on piles, flanked the flotilla at each end, 
and off the harbor's mouth, which was also pro- 
tected by shore batteries, were moored several 
battle-ships and lighter craft. 

Two days were spent by the commander-in-chief, 
Nelson, and all the artillery officers in the exami- 
nation of the inner and outer channels by which 
Copenhagen could be approached, and of the Middle 
Ground between them, or the great shoal. The 
difficulties of navigation among these dangerous 



316 LORD NELSON 



flats would have seemed almost insuperable to any 
one but a Nelson. Even the experienced pilots and 
masters, who were familiar with every inch of the 
ground, dwelt incessantly on the dangers of at- 
tempting an entrance. To all suggestions of alarm 
or hesitation Nelson returned an impatient and 
irritated answer. It was he who, during the night, 
went in a boat to oversee the laying down of fresh 
buoys, the Danes having removed or displaced the 
former ones. 

At a council of war, called by Admiral Parker on 
the 31st of March, Nelson laid down his plan of 
attack; he proposed to enter through the outer 
channel and to attack the back or weakest end of 
the enemy's position. He offered his services, and 
asked for ten line-of -battle ships and all the smaller 
craft. Admiral Parker, with great discretion, ap- 
pointed him to this detached service, and left 
everything to his decision, giving him two more 
line -of -battle ships than he had asked for. 

"During this council of war," writes Colonel 
Stewart, who gives us the chief detailed account of 
the battle, " the energy of Lord Nelson's character 
was remarked." Pacing the cabin with resolute and 
energetic step, and working the stump of his arm, 
as he always did under excitement, he showed 
mortification and annoyance at any suggestion of 
irresolution or fear. 

On the 1st of April the whole fleet took up a 
position two leagues from the city, and from there, 



"ENGLAND MISTRESS OF THE SEAS" 317 

at about one o'clock, Nelson threw out the signal 
for his division to weigh. Under a light breeze 
the ships passed one by one through the northern 
channel, led by the light Amazon^ and as twilight 
fell they reached their anchorage off Dragor Point, 
not two miles from the enemy's line. As the ships 
lay in the crowded anchoring ground, thirty-three 
sail huddled close together, and within range of 
the Danish mortar-boats and battery, a shower of 
shells would have done fearful havoc. But the 
Danes were too busy in strengthening their line, 
and were too confident in the impassability of their 
dangerous channels, to pay any attention to the 
enemy's ships. All through the dark night the 
British guard-boats slipped stealthily and silently 
over the water, even to the very side of the leading 
Danish ship. Captain Hardy sounding as he went, 
and getting the bearings of the shoals. 

On the night of the 1st of April, on the eve of 
the battle, "the gallant Nelson," in high spirits 
and animated with excitement, sat at table with a 
choice party of his friends and comrades in arms. 
All were anxious for the dawn, and full of admira- 
tion for their great leader. Early in the evening 
the signal to prepare for battle had been made, and 
the night was spent in drawing up instructions 
for the captains. Nelson was so exhausted while 
dictating his orders that his friends begged him to 
lie on a cot on deck. From there he still continued 
to dictate, and to urge his men to work. 



318 LORD NELSON 



As the morning of the 2d of April broke with 
a fair wind and clear sky, the pilots and masters 
were called on boai-d the admiral's ship. Hesita- 
tion and uncertainty made them loath to lead the 
fleet. But not a moment could be lost ; the signal 
was made for action, and Nelson urged them to be 
resolute and steady. At last Mr. Brierly offered to 
lead the column, and at half-past nine the ships 
weighed anchor in succession. Led by the Edgar^ 
the noble line of battle-ships advanced upon 
the enemy. Two of them kept too close to the 
shoal and ran aground; the rest of the line took 
up their positions a cable's length from their 
opponents. 

At about ten o'clock the action began, and in 
little more than an hour's time the battle became 
general. The British line was spread from end to 
end of the Danish position ; but the Crown Battery, 
which was to have been attacked by the grounded 
ships, was left without opponents until Captain 
Riou of the Amazon led his squadron of frigates to 
replace the missing battle-ships. Hour after hour 
the raking fire kept up along the whole length of 
the line, while the division under Admiral Parker 
threatened the mouth of the harbor from the out- 
side. Impeded hy the currents, the British gun- 
brigs could not come into action, and only two of 
the bomb-vessels reached their positions. By one 
o'clock the Monarch and Isis had received serious 
injury, and the Bellona and Russell were flying 



"ENGLAND MISTRESS OF THE SEAS" 319 

signals of distress. From the Agamemnon came 
the signal of inability. Nelson's flag-ship, the 
Elephant^ was still warmly engaged with the 
Danish commodore in the Dannebrog^ and with 
two heavy praams. 

At this moment was made on the London^ Admi- 
ral Parker's flag-ship, the famous signal of recall. 
Watching the conflict from afar, the commander- 
in-chief saw the stubborn resistance of the Danes, 
saw also the mishaps to some of the British vessels 
which had reduced their fighting numbers to only 
nine line-of-battle ships. Uncertain by nature, 
and lacking that greatness of mind and soul which 
takes high risks, he feared a crushing defeat, and 
signalled for the action to cease. 

Lord Nelson was walking the quarter-deck, as 
he had been throughout the action, animated and 
full of heroic purpose. The signal lieutenant ad- 
vanced toward him and reported that signal No. 39 
(to discontinue the engagement) was thrown out 
on board the London. Nelson paid no heed, but 
continued his walk. At the next turn the lieu- 
tenant asked, "whether he should repeat it?" 
Nelson replied, "No, acknowledge it," and then 
added, "Is No. 16 (for close action) still hoisted?" 
The lieutenant answered that it was ; then Nelson 
said, "Mind you keep it so." 

Walking the deck with agitation and work- 
ing the stump of his right arm, he exclaimed to 
Colonel Stewart, " Do you know what's shown on 



320 LORD NELSON 



board the commander-in-chief? No. 39." On 
being asked what that meant, he replied, " Why, 
to leave off action." — " Leave off action ! " he re- 
peated, and we can fancy what mingled contempt 
and determination were in his voice, '' Now damn 
me if I do." Then he turned to Captain Foley 
and said playfully, " You know, Foley, I have only 
one eye. I have a right to be blind sometimes," 
and raising the glass to his blind eye he said, " I 
really do not see the signal." 

The signal was therefore not repeated by Nelson 
as a command to his division. Admiral Graves 
repeated it, but left the signal for close action 
still flying. Not a ship of the line moved from 
its place in the battle, and what would have been 
an annihilating defeat was turned by this deter- 
mined attitude into a glorious victory. 

The action continued with undiminished inten- 
sity. By two o'clock the larger part of the Danish 
line had been silenced. The Dannehrog was dis- 
abled and on fire, and Commodore Fischer had 
twice been obliged to shift his flag. Many ships 
were adrift, others were completely shattered and 
had struck. The Danish line of defence was de- 
stroyed, and the Crown Batteries could no longer 
be held. The victory was complete. 

At half-past two Nelson sent a flag of truce on 
shore, with a letter to the Crown Prince, insisting 
on a cessation of firing from the ships that had 
struck, else he would be forced to burn the prizes. 



"ENGLAND MISTRESS OF THE SEAS" 321 

He had been led to take this step by the irregular 
proceedings of the Danes, who either were igno- 
rant of the usages of war or chose to disregard 
them, and continued to fire upon the British boats 
as they approached to take possession of the prizes, 
even though they had struck their colors as a sign 
of surrender. 

The truce was accepted and prolonged several 
days. Nelson was able to remove, not only the 
prizes he had captured, but also his own ships 
from the intricate channels, and to land all the 
wounded Danes on shore. The entire British 
fleet then passed through the difficult passage of 
the Grounds, before looked upon as impracticable, 
and entered the Baltic. Nelson remained in the 
Baltic for two months as commander-in-chief of 
the fleet. Sir Hyde Parker having been removed, 
and on the 19th of June returned to England, 
where he landed on the 1st of July at Yarmouth. 

Nelson's health had greatly suffered during the 
northern campaign, and on his return to England 
he longed passionately for rest. But England was 
alarmed by rumors of a French invasion, and the 
country could not be quieted unless a Nelson pro- 
tected her shores. He was appointed commander- 
in-chief of a squadron of defence, whose mission 
was to cruise off the coast and protect the Thames 
and Medway. In little more than a month he 
hoisted his flag and kept it flying until the follow- 
ing April, nine months of irritating, uncongenial, 



322 LORD NELSON 



wearying command, which left him sore in body 
and mind. The hero of St. Vincent, of the Nile, and 
of Copenhagen was not made for patrol work 
and boat warfare. His release came at last, and 
he was given a short period of that rest he so much 
desired. Cessation of hostilities with the French 
republic was announced in October, 1801, but the 
peace of Amiens was not signed until late in the 
following March, and on the 10th of April, 1802, 
Nelson received orders to strike his flag. 

After the battle of Copenhagen, Nelson had 
been raised to the rank of viscount, and in Octo- 
ber, 1801, he had taken his seat in the House of 
Lords. At this time he especially felt, with keen 
and generous sympathy, the neglect of the govern- 
ment, the admiralty, and the city of London to 
reward or acknowledge the devoted services of 
those who had fought at the battle of Copenhagen. 
No medals had been issued after the victory, no 
thanks had been voted by the city, no rewards had 
been granted to any but himself and Admiral 
Graves. His devoted loyalty to all those who had 
shared with him the perils of battle, and had helped 
him to win his glorious victories, was at all times 
one of tlie noblest traits of his character. It was 
this, in large measure, which won for him the en- 
thusiastic support and the warm affection of every 
man who served under him. 

He wrote to the Lord Mayor of London on the 
8th of November, 1802: "If Lord Nelson could 



"ENGLAND MISTRESS OF THE SEAS" 323 

forget the services of those who have fought under 
his command, he would ill deserve to be so sup- 
ported as he has always been." In writing previ- 
ously to Lord St. Vincent he had said : " If ever I 
feel great, it is, my dear Lord, in never having in 
thouglit, word, or deed robbed any man of his fair 
fame." With his thirst for glory, he never desired 
to win it at the expense or neglect of those who 
had borne with him the dangers and hardships of 
war. 

Referring to Copenhagen, in a letter to the Lord 
Mayor, he writes : " I should feel much mortified, 
when I reflected on the noble support I that day 
received, at any honor which could separate me 
from them." In this same letter he refused to re- 
ceive a vote of thanks from the city of London for 
his conduct on the Downs, and afterward refused 
to dine at Guildhall on Lord Mayor's Day. 

In May, 1803, war with France having broken 
out afresh. Nelson was appointed commander-in- 
chief of his Majesty's ships in the Mediterranean. 
On the 18th he hoisted his flag on board the Vic- 
tor 7/ , the ship whose name was to become immortal 
as the one in which he fought the last battle and 
won the crowning victory of his life. 

Sailing from Spithead on the 20th of May, he 
joined Sir Richard Bickerton on the 8th of July, 
and began the blockade of Toulon and of the 
French fleet which lay within the harbor. Through 
gales of wind and s(][ualls, the tedious work of 



324 LORD NELSON 



blockading was carried on. The weariness of it 
may be judged from a letter written by Nelson on 
the 7th of July, 1804, exactly one year after the 
blockade had begun : " We have nothing but inces- 
sant gales of wind, and I am absolutely worn out." 
Most of his ships were scarcely seaworthy, and 
only four of them were " fit to keep the sea." 

Meanwhile at Toulon and Brest the French 
navy was being daily increased and put into effec- 
tive condition. New ships were equipped, troops 
gathered for embarkation, every preparation made 
for a fresh naval expedition. 

The invasion of Great Britain was the object of 
the French emperor's new enterprise. For this stu- 
pendous undertaking Napoleon had been drilling an 
army of one hundred and fifty thousand men, and 
collecting a fleet of thirty -five ships in the harbors 
of Toulon, Brest, and Rochefort. The squadrons 
were to assemble at the West Indies and from there 
sail for the Straits of Dover. 

Nelson's sagacity showed him the importance of 
preventing the junction of the French squadrons, 
and of fighting them as soon as they left port. 
For this contingency he had been waiting under 
trials, hardships, and disappointments for a year 
and a half — a period of bitter anxiety and depri- 
vation. The long-expected news was flashed to 
him by signals as his fleet lay at anchor in Magda- 
lena Roads. He had left two lookout frigates to 
watch the movements of the enemy ; under press 



ENGLAND MISTRESS OF THE SEAS" 325 



of sail they sped to his anchorage. The French 
fleet, under Admiral Villeneuve, slipped out of 
Toulon harbor on the 17th of January, bound for 
Sardinia. 

On the afternoon of the 19th Nelson saw the 
signals ; three hours later his fleet was at sea in 
hot pursuit. The Victori/ in the lead, followed by 
a single column, each ship carrying a light in her 
stern, filed through the dangerous channel, only 
a quarter of a mile wide, between Sardinia and 
Biche, in the black night, under a heavy gale of 
wind. Then followed the heart-rending search for 
Villeneuve. Nelson scoured the Mediterranean in 
the worst weather he had ever seen; gale after 
gale swept his ships over the angry waters. The 
same blasts that tormented Nelson, and added to 
the perplexities of the pursuit, drove the French 
back to port and to refit. 

Again Villeneuve set sail with eleven line-of- 
battle ships, seven frigates, and two brigs. Nel- 
son had been battling and drifting with the storm, 
beaten by wind and waves ; he had been to Naples, 
Sicily, and Sardinia, to Alexandria, Candia, and 
Malta; he had "covered the channel from Bar- 
bary to Toro with frigates and the fleet." Yet the 
French escaped him. 

On the 18th of April he writes : " I am going 
out of the Mediterranean after the French fleet." 
That they had eluded his vigilance was a severe 
afaiction, and smarting under the mortification, 



326 LORD NELSON 



yet with a full sense of having done all within his 
power, he followed them westward. Bad weather 
dogged him and held him back. " My good for- 
tune seems flown away ; I cannot get a fair wind. 
Dead foul ! — dead foul ! " 

Through the Straits and after them he went. 
"Salt beef and the French fleet is far preferable 
to roast beef and champagne without them." 
Through the Gut, threatened by a Levanter, past 
Cape St. Vincent, then straight across the Atlantic 
to the West Indies. 

On the 4th of June the British fleet of ten sail 
of the line sighted Barbadoes. Rumors that the 
French fleet had been seen in the Caribbean 
waters continued to reach Nelson. On he sped to 
Tobago, to Trinidad, to Montserrat, to Antigua. 
The enemy had been before him, and had slipped 
through his fingers. Still not despairing, he turned 
about, and pursuing them across the Atlantic 
once more he hoped to reach Cadiz before they did. 
Back to Europe, under press of sail, his course 
lay. He had covered 6,686 miles of sea, thirty- 
four leagues per day. On the 18th of July, three 
months after he had left the Straits of Gibraltar, 
he writes : " Cape Spartel in sight, but no French 
fleet ; how sorrowful this makes me, but I cannot 
help myself." The same day he joined the squad- 
ron under Vice-admiral Collingwood before Cadiz. 
On the 20th of July he makes this entry in his 
diary : " I went on shore for the first time since 



"ENGLAND MISTRESS OF THE SEAS" 327 

June 16th, 1803, and from having my foot out of 
the Victory two years, wanting ten days." 

That his long and arduous chase of Villeneuve 
had ended in what he considered failure, " almost 
broke his heart," as he himself says, for his one 
object had been to find the French fleet and 
destroy it. That he had rendered an almost equal 
service by saving the West Indies, and returning 
in time to save Great Britain, he did not at first 
realize. 

On the 25th of July he received the first infor- 
mation of the enemy's fleet. It had been seen 
steering northward, and to the north Nelson went 
in pursuit. Three weeks later he joined Vice- 
admiral Cornwallis off Ushant, and receiving 
orders to return to England, he sailed for Spit- 
head. His stay at home was short. Two weeks 
after his arrival he again hoisted his flag on the 
Victory and sailed from Portsmouth on the 15th 
of September. Fourteen days later he joined 
Collingwood off Cadiz. The force under his 
command counted twenty-seven ships of the line. 
Lying in the outer harbor of Cadiz were thirty- 
six battle-ships and a number of frigates ready for 
sea, the combined fleets of France and Spain, under 
the command of Villeneuve and Gravina. 

On the morning of the 19th of October, Nelson 
was cruising off Cape Trafalgar; it was a clear 
day with an easterly wind. Suddenly the signal 
flew up on the lookout ships that the enemy was 



328 LORD NELSON 



coming out of port. On the masthead of the 
Victory was run up the signal for a " general 
chase southeast," toward the Straits of Gibraltar, 
to prevent the enemy from entering the Mediter- 
ranean. Two days later, at the dawn of Monday, 
the 21st of October, the whole French and Spanish 
combined fleet had put to sea and was formed in 
a curved line of battle, stretching five miles from 
horn to horn, off the southern coast of Spain. 
On one side lay Cadiz, on the other Cape Trafalgar, 
in the far distance the Straits of Gibraltar. Tow- 
ering high among the thirty-three ships of the 
line was the monster giant, the Santissima Trinidad^ 
of a hundred and thirty guns, the largest ship 
afloat. Directly astern of her loomed the masts 
of the Bucentaure^ the famous flag-ship of the 
commander-in-chief. Admiral Villeneuve. Behind 
and before rose the black sides of vast structures 
bristling with guns, a very forest of ships, await- 
ing the crash of the British liners. 

And where was Nelson? The moment had 
arrived, sought for through two years and four 
months of marvellous endurance, tenacity of pur- 
pose, and unexampled devotion. Coming on deck 
of his flag-ship, the Victory^ dressed in his admiral's 
coat and covered with a blaze of decorations, he 
made in quick succession the signals : " Form the 
order for sailing ; " " Prepare for battle ; " " Bear 
up." In two columns of attack the twenty-seven 
British liners bore down full sail upon the enemy. 




Nelson's Great Victory at 7>afalgar. 



"ENGLAND MISTRESS OF THE SEAS" 329 



Admiral Collingwood, in his flag-ship, the Royal 
Sovereign^ led the column to the south, while the 
Victory led to the north. 

Toward eleven o'clock Nelson went below, and 
on his knees wrote the words of his noble prayer : 
"May the great God whom I worship grant to 
my country, and for the benefit of Europe in gen- 
eral, a great and glorious victory. . . . Amen." 
Directly afterward followed the memorable signal 
which Nelson sent as a last message to his fleet, 
"England expects every man will do his duty." 
Shouts and cheers along the whole line greeted 
the inspiring words. Then was hoisted the signal 
for " close action," which soon disappeared in the 
smoke of battle, but was flying till it was shot 
away. 

The Royal Sovereign first broke the enemy's 
line. The Victory then swept down upon the 
Bucentaure ; and as Nelson's ship rode majestically 
within range of the allied guns, the whole artillery 
of eight ships of the van opened upon her. Sheets 
of flame leaped from the colossal sides of the 
Bucentaure, the Redoubtable, and the Santissima 
Trinidad. For a moment the Victory was silent. 
Then she opened a broadside on the Bucentaure, 
which dismounted twenty guns and killed four 
hundred men ; and, leaving the enemy's flag-ship 
to the mercy of her followers, she entered on that 
fatal engagement with the Redoubtable, which cost 
Nelson his life. 



330 LORD NELSON 



As the two ships lay side by side, so close that 
the muzzles of the Victory^ s guns touched the sides 
of her opponent, Nelson and Captain Hardy paced 
the quarter-deck. Not fifty feet above them, the 
mizzentop of the Redoubtable swarmed with sharp- 
shooters. As the two friends reached the cabin 
hatch, Nelson suddenly fell forward on the deck, 
shot through the back. " They have done for me 
at last," he said to Hardy. " My backbone is shot 
through." He was carried below to the cock-pit, 
among the wounded and the dying, where every- 
thing was done to relieve his suffering. There 
for three hours he lay, listening to the incessant 
strife overhead, while the decisive moments of the 
fight came and went. 

The Bucentaure surrendered, and prize after 
prize fell into the hands of the British. Before 
Nelson had closed his eyes, while his flag was still 
flying, seventeen of the allied ships had been 
captured, and one of the most glorious of sea 
victories had been won. Even at the moment 
when the great victor breathed his last, the guns 
ceased firing, and silence fell upon the fleets. And, 
dying in the hour of triumph, his last words were, 
" Thank God, I have done my duty ! " 

Nelson seems from the first to have felt a 
premonition of his death. The day before the 
action he said, at dinner, "To-morrow I will 
do that which will give you younger gentlemen 
something to talk and think about for the rest 



"ENGLAND MISTRESS OF THE SEAS" 331 



of your lives ; but I shall not live to know about 
it myself." 

He lived to know that in the hour of death he 
had won the most signal, the most superb victory 
that could crown a man's life-long devotion to his 
country. When his flag-ship was disappearing in 
the smoke of battle, Nelson's last words had been, 
" I thank God for this great opportunity of doing 
my duty;" his last thought breathed before he 
died was for his country. These two ideas, 
his duty and his country, had been throughout 
his life the guiding principles of every action, the 
spur of every self-sacrifice, the goal of every effort. 
When the long course of his magnificent victories, 
which had made his name a terror to the enemies 
of his country, closed at last at Trafalgar, he could 
feel that his work had been completed, and that he 
had left "England mistress of the seas." 

Not merely will his name be " ever dear to his 
country," but to the entire world it will always 
be an inspiration to exalted heroism and devotion. 



ADMIRAL DAVID GLASGOW 
FARRAGUT 

1801-1870 



ADMIEAL DAVID GLASGOW 
FARRAGUT 

CHAPTER XXVI 

AMERICA'S CHIEF NAVAL LEADER 

We see in history moments when opportunity- 
stands in waiting for the leader. It is the destiny 
of a chosen few to thus come into the world hand 
in hand with their appointed task. Their career is 
dazzling and concentrated. They escape the rou- 
tine of life, and receive in their youth the hero's 
crown. Such was the lot of Nelson. 

There are other times when we see the leader 
waiting for the opportunity. To such a man the 
fulfilment of his destiny comes in the full maturity 
of his powers, at the close of a long course of quiet 
and steady preparation. It is the culmination of 
his life's work, no less brilliant and triumphant 
because the wreath is laid on a head gray with 
years. Such was the lot of America's greatest naval 
commander, Farragut. 

The man of genius knows how to recognize and 

seize the opportunity, whether it comes early or 

late. Although Farragut was unconscious of the 

future honor and glory that awaited him, although 

335 



336 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

he knew not when his opportunity would come, or 
whether it would come at all, it did not find him 
unprepared. Preparedness, resolution, quickness, 
are as necessary to seize, in the rapid course of 
events, the occasion that leads to victory, as they 
are to win the victory itself. 

David Glasgow Farragut^ was born on the 5th 
of July, 1801, at Campbell's Station, a border town 
in eastern Tennessee. His father, George Farra- 
gut, was a Spaniard of pure descent, who had set- 
tled in America when he was twenty-one years old. 
His mother was a North Carolinian with Scotch 
blood in her veins. Farragut's life during the 
earliest years of his childhood was one of excite- 
ment and danger. Living in a town that was 
subject to continual raids by the Indians, one of 
his first recollections was of an attack by the sav- 
ages during his father's absence. The house of 
the Farraguts was somewhat isolated, and when 
the Indians appeared before it, David's mother, a 
brave and energetic woman, barred the door, and 
sent her little ones trembling into the loft of the 
barn. Meanwhile she guarded the entrance with 
an axe and kept the Indians at bay until they 
finally departed. 

David's father was a man of daring enterprise, 
with a strong love of the sea, and he early trained 
his children to danger and exposure, saying that 

1 See the Life and Letters of Admiral Farragut edited by his 
son, Mr. Loyall Farragut. 



AMERICA'S CHIEF NAVAL LEADER 337 

" now was the time to conquer their fear." After 
he had moved to New Orleans, he often took his 
children in a small canoe, or pirogue, across Lake 
Pontchartrain, when it was blowing almost a gale. 
Farragut afterward writes in his Journal, referring 
to these early days : " When the weather was bad, 
we usually slept on the beach of one of the numer- 
ous islands in the lake, or else on the shore of the 
mainland, wrapped in the boat sail; and if the 
weather was cold, we generally half buried our- 
selves in the dry sand." 

After the death of his mother, when he was 
about eight years old, Farragut was adopted by 
Commodore David Porter, who was then in com- 
mand of the New Orleans Naval Station. The 
commodore's father had been tenderly nursed and 
cared for, during his last illness, by the Farraguts, 
and out of gratitude for their kindness. Porter 
offered to provide for one of the children. Fasci- 
nated by the commodore's uniform, little David 
Farragut was delighted at the thought of going to 
sea, and willingly followed his new guardian. His 
seaman's life began soon after, for he had but a 
short period of schooling before he received his 
midshipman's warrant, sent to him when he was 
only nine and a half years old. Thus he made, 
when a mere child, his formal entry into the 
United States navy, of which he was to become the 
chief and greatest leader. 

His initiation into active service came when he 



338 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

was ten years of age, and only a year later his 
lot carried him into the very heat of struggle, 
amid the hardships and terrors of actual warfare. 
Child of fame, it so chanced that the schoolroom 
of his career was on board the celebrated frigate, 
Essex^ whose history was one of the most adven- 
turous and exciting of the War of 1812, and whose 
name became famous from her bold Pacific cruise, 
one of America's first naval enterprises after the 
declaration of war with Great Britain. 

Captain Porter, who was in command of the 
frigate, and who had brought midshipman Farra- 
gut with him on board his new ship, conceived the 
daring plan of a long and roundabout voyage 
across the north Atlantic, down to the south At- 
lantic, and into the Pacific Ocean. Great Britain 
held extensive fishing interests in the great South 
Sea, and to harass and destroy her commerce was 
the secret object of the voyage. The attempt was 
hazardous, for British vessels swarmed along the 
coasts of North and South America, and to elude 
their vigilance was both difficult and perilous. 

The Essex was ready for sea early in July, and 
the summer months were spent in a short cruise 
off the coast. Running into the midst of a convoy 
of British transports bound for Quebec, with a 
thousand soldiers on board, one of her first exploits 
was to capture a brig and two hundred Britishers. 
With wonderful coolness and skill Captain Por- 
ter manoeuvred his prize out of the convoy, under 



AMERICA'S CHIEF NAVAL LEADER 339 



cover of the night, and then returned to offer 
battle to the British escort, the Minerva, a 32- 
gun frigate. The two rival frigates were a 
good match for each other, but the Briton was 
prudent and refused to fight, standing in among 
the convoy. 

Next followed a lively pursuit of the Alert, 
sloop of war. A broadside brought down her 
colors, and she was taken in tow after her officers 
had been transferred to the Ussex. The little 
American frigate was now crowded with prisoners, 
and a conspiracy was formed among them to cap- 
ture the Ussex. On the night before the mutiny 
was to break out, midshipman Farragut lay awake 
in his hammock. Suddenly a man stood by his 
side with a pistol in his hand, and for a minute 
gazed intently at the boy. Farragut feigned to 
be asleep and lay motionless until the man passed 
on. Then he slipped from his hammock and 
crept noiselessly to the cabin. There he found 
Captain Porter in his cot and told him what he 
had seen. The captain sprang to his feet and 
was on the berth deck in an instant, crying " Fire ! 
fire ! " The effect was wonderful. The mutineers 
became alarmed and confused, and failed to carry 
out their scheme. Before they had recovered 
from their stupor, the captain called the boarders 
to the main hatch and ordered them to secure the 
conspirators. 

The Ussez was the smartest ship of the squad- 



340 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

ron. Captain Porter, while considerate and 
generous to those under him, was strict as a 
disciplinarian, and his crew had been trained to 
the highest point of perfection. It was an example 
of discipline on the part of the commander, and 
devotion on the part of the crew, which was of the 
greatest value to Farragut as his first schooling in 
seamanship. 

Late in the summer the Essex returned to the 
United States, and in the fall was ordered to sea 
again to join the Constitution and the Hornet on 
the contemplated cruise to the Pacific. Early in 
October she got under way and headed for the 
Cape Verd Islands, which were to be the first 
meeting place of the squadron. Failing to find 
her consorts there, and after tracking them from 
island to island. Captain Porter was free to follow 
his own course, and, deciding to undertake the 
voyage alone, he immediately started for the south- 
ern waters. 

The enterprise on which the little Essex was 
thus embarking was bold and full of danger. The 
season for doubling Cape Horn had long passed ; 
it was now the dead of winter, and her course lay 
through a wild and tempestuous region. The 
ports along the coast were friendly to Great Brit- 
ain, whose influence had spread throughout the 
states of South America, and the Essex could not 
hope to revictual or refit in any of the harbors. 
She must depend upon the resources of her own 



AMERICA'S CHIEF NAVAL LEADER 341 

stores and the chance of prizes captured in mid- 
ocean. Undaunted by the perils that lay before 
him, Captain Porter set out upon his distant cruise 
in the last days of January, 1813. At first the 
Essex met with nothing more eventful than heavy 
seas and a few British merchantmen which she 
captured. But her hour of trial was fast ap- 
proaching. 

As she neared the dangerous waters around the 
Horn, violent storms burst over her, fierce gales of 
wind lifted the waves into angry, raging moun- 
tains of destructive force. For twenty-one days 
she lay off the Cape. At one time a big sea stove 
in the ports from bow to quarter, and the water 
rushed down the hatchways. The sailors below 
thought the ship was sinking. " This was the only 
instance," writes Farragut, "in which I ever saw 
a regular good seaman paralyzed by fear at the 
dangers of the sea." 

Through suffering and hardships, with scant 
provisions, in the biting cold of the winter blasts, 
the little ship kept resolutely on her way. Round- 
ing the Cape, she turned northward and sailed up 
the coast of Chile. At the island of Mocha the 
crew had a run on shore, and shot wild hogs and 
horses to replenish their provisions. Then on to 
Valparaiso, where the ship entered the harbor and 
anchored for a few days. 

Again she put to sea and cruised along the 
coast of Chile and Peru. Seizing a Peruvian 



342 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

guarda costa, and recapturing one of her American 
prizes, the Essex sailed for the distant and lonely 
Galapagos Islands, a favorite station for British 
whalers. As she neared the islands, several strange 
sail hove in sight, and an exciting chase followed. 
Taking to the boats, Farragut, among the others, 
pulled for the British whale-ships and overtook 
them. Three were captured on that first day, and 
five others were afterward added to their group 
of prizes. 

For three weeks the Essex continued among the 
Galapagos Islands, and the men had many good 
runs on shore. Farragut speaks of those days as 
among the happiest of his life. After capturing 
almost all of the British whalers among the islands, 
the frigate sailed for the coast of Peru toward the 
middle of June. Having now as many as nine 
vessels under him, including the prizes. Captain 
Porter determined to send the larger part of them 
to Valparaiso harbor. One of the prizes which 
had been commissioned as a United States cruiser, 
the Essex Junior^ and placed under the command 
of Captain Downes, was detailed as escort to the 
convoy. Farragut's maiden service fell to him on 
this occasion. He was sent as prize-master to the 
Barclay^ with a party of seamen under him, and 
was to manage the ship on her long voyage to 
Chile. " This was an impol-tant event in my life," 
writes Farragut, " and when it was decided that I 
was to take the ship to Valparaiso, I felt no little 



AMERICA'S CHIEF NAVAL LEADER 343 

pride at finding myself in command at twelve years 
of age." 

The captain of the Barclay^ who was " a violent- 
tempered old fellow," was furious at being super- 
seded by a mere boy, and at having to be under 
the orders of a chief officer of twelve years of 
age. The Essex Junior was fast disappearing to 
the south, and Captain Porter to the north, yet 
the Barclay still lay at anchor. Farragut felt 
that his day of trial had arrived. He knew that 
the time had come when he must play the man, so 
he informed the captain that he desired the main- 
topsail filled away. The captain replied that he 
would shoot any man who dared touch a rope with- 
out his orders, and went below for his pistols. 

Turning to his right-hand man of the crew, Far- 
ragut told him with firmness and decision that he 
wanted " the maintopsail filled." A clear " Ay, 
ay, sir ! " was the prompt repl}^ and the order 
was at once obeyed. " P'rom that moment," writes 
Farragut, " I became master of the vessel, and 
immediately gave all necessary orders for making 
sail." We seem to see the resolute little figure 
standing in his midshipman's uniform on the deck 
of his maiden charge, and holding to his rights 
with that vigor and prompt resolution which char- 
acterized him throughout his life. This early 
training in self-reliance and responsibility was of 
inestimable value to one who, in after years, was 
to lead his fleets through unprecedented dangers. 



344 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

Leaving the captured ships in safe anchorage, the 
Essex Junior returned to the Galapagos Islands with 
important news from South America. Accounts 
of the havoc done to British commerce by the 
Essex had reached England. The British whale 
fisheries in the Pacific had been destroyed, Ameri- 
can whalers had been released, as many as fifteen 
prizes had been captured, and terror spread along 
the coast of South America, and all this had been 
accomplished by one frigate. To capture this 
commerce-destroying ship, the British had sent 
out an expedition, which was daily expected to 
arrive in the waters of the Pacific. The squadron 
consisted of the frigate Phoehe^ Captain Hillyar, 
and two sloops, the Oherub and the Raccoon. 

On receiving this news Captain Porter at once 
decided to make ready for the coming struggle, 
and sailed for the Marquesas Islands, where the 
Essex and the Essex Junior lay for six weeks to 
refit and revictual. Every preparation was made 
for a sharp contest. The crews were daily drilled 
in the use of the " great guns," cutlasses, and mus- 
kets for every contingency of fire, fighting, or board- 
ing. Everything was done in the way of training 
and discipline to make ready for a struggle with a 
greatly superior force, which was destined to be one 
of the most gallant and heroic actions of the war. 

In January, 1814, the Essex sailed for the coast 
of Chile, and anchored in Valparaiso harbor on 
the 3d of February. Four days later two strange 



AMERICA'S CHIEF NAVAL LEADER 345 

sails hove in sight. At the time they made their 
appearance, a third of the American crew were on 
shore on liberty. This was quickly reported to 
the strangers, who were none other than the Phoebe 
and the Cherub^ the long-expected British squadron. 

Although Valparaiso was a neutral port, the 
temptation of an easy capture was too great for 
Captain Hillyar. His two ships promptly hauled 
into harbor on a wind, and the Phoebe came close 
alongside and within ten or fifteen feet of the 
Essex. But Captain Porter was prepared. As 
soon as the enemy had been descried by the look- 
outs a gun was fired and signal made for " all boats 
and men to return." In fifteen minutes every 
man was at his quarters ; the powder-boys with 
slowmatches were ready to discharge the guns, 
and the boarders, cutlass in hand, stood prepared 
to board in the smoke. 

Finding the Essex cleared for action and ready 
to grapple her enemy. Captain Hillyar changed his 
mind, backed down, and dropped anchor astern. 
Had Captain Porter not observed the strict neu- 
trality of the port, the Phoebe would have now been 
raked fore and aft, as she lay completely at his 
mercy. If he had known how ill his forbearance 
was to be rewarded, he might have been tempted 
to annihilate his enemy. 

After a few days spent in provisioning and 
watering, the British vessels went to sea and 
began a regular blockade of our ships. Week 



346 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

after week they cruised up and down the waters, 
outside the mouth of the harbor, and escape 
seemed impossible. In vain Captain Porter tried 
to lure or persuade liis antagonist into open and 
single combat. The Englishman was prudent and 
lacking in good faith, and always manoeuvred so 
as to avoid a fair contest. 

Toward the close of March a fierce blast of the 
Chilean south wind strained the Essex away from 
her anchors and broke one of her cables. Captain 
Porter thought he might weather the enemy and 
under crowded sail the gallant little ship stood 
out to sea. P)ut hardly had she gained the point 
of the bay when a sudden squall struck her and 
carried away her maintopmast. Escape was now 
impossible, and the disabled Essex attempted to 
regain the harbor; but she could only struggle 
back as far as a small bay, where she anchored a 
quarter of a mile off shore. Still she was within 
the neutral limit of Chilean waters, and had every 
right to expect fair treatment. 

At the first sign of flight the British vessels had 
started in pursuit. They now bore down on their 
crippled and isolated rival, and opened their broad- 
sides on her. The Essex was cleared for action 
and made every preparation for an heroic defence. 
But from the first it was evident to all on board 
that their case was hopeless. " It was equally 
apparent," adds Farragut, " that all were ready to 
die at their guns rather than surrender." 



AMERICA'S CIIIKF NAVAL LEADER Ml 

With this determination animating every man 
in the crew, the Ussex began one of the noblest 
and most splendidly contested defences on record. 
It was a fight of three to one, for the combined 
British ships carried sixty gnns, chiefly long 
eighteen-pounders, and the Essex was armed 
almost entirely with short-range guns. As her 
opponents kept discreetly at long range, these were 
entirely useless to her in the battle. Only six of 
her guns could be brought to bear on the enemy, 
and those were twelve-pounders, 3^et so effectually 
were they used, that in half an hour both of the 
Britishers were compelled to haul off to repair 
damages. 

Again they returned to the attack, keeping up a 
galling fire which the Essex was powerless to 
return. Her hull was raked from bow to stern, 
her cables cut, her rigging shot away, and in this 
helpless condition she still lay under the fearful 
and destructive fire. Captain Porter tried to close 
with the enemy, but the Pluiche succeeded in keep- 
ing at long range. Then he determined to run his 
ship ashore and destroy her, but the wind shifted 
and took her back to sea. 

Through this scene of frightful slaughter young 
Farragut came and went on midshipman's duties. 
"1 performed the duties of captain's aid, quarter- 
gunner, powder-boy, and, in fact, did everything 
that was required of me. T generally assisted in 
working a gun, would run and bring powder from 



348 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

the boys, and send them back for more." Around 
him lay the dead and wounded, over his head 
crashed the destructive shot ; but he was ever at 
his post, and thought of nothing but the working 
of the guns. And he was not quite thirteen. 
Never again in his long and brilliant career was 
he to witness so fearful a struggle or pass through 
so terrible an ordeal as in this gallant defence of 
the Essex. 

Many are the tales of heroic endurance and 
sacrifice which Farragut relates of his wounded 
and dying comrades. Among the badly wounded 
was one of his best friends. Lieutenant Cowell, 
and of him Farragut writes : " I found that he 
had lost a leg just above the knee, and the doctor 
informed me that his life might have been saved 
if he had consented to the amputation of the limb 
an hour before ; but when it was proposed to drop 
another patient and attend to him, he replied: 
'No, Doctor, none of that, fair play is a jewel. 
One man's life is as dear as another's ; I would not 
cheat any poor fellow out of his turn.' Thus died 
one of the best officers and bravest men among us." 

Fire had broken out several times in the ship, 
and the flames finally spread near the powder 
magazine. The men came rushing up from below, 
many with their clothes burning. Captain Porter 
ordered them to jump overboard and swim for 
their lives, and then finding that the ship was in a 
sinking condition, he determined to surrender in 



AMERICA'S CHIEF NAVAL LEADER 349 

order to save the wounded. At half-past six 
o'clock the colors were hauled down. 

After the surrender of the Essex Captain Por- 
ter and the remainder of the officers and crew 
were put on parole and allowed to return, in the 
Essex Junior^ to the United States, where they 
arrived on the 7th of July, 1814. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

ADVENTURES WITH PIRATES 

After this heroic initiation into the perils and 
terrors of war, it seems strange to think of Farra- 
gut as going quietly to school again in Chester 
during the rest of the summer, and until he was 
exchanged in the following November. Peace 
with Great Britain, which was soon afterward 
concluded, brought the war to a close, and ended 
Farragut's fighting days for many years to come. 

Several cruises in the Mediterranean, a winter 
of study and travel spent in Tunis, one of gayeties 
in Messina, and more routine cruising in the nar- 
row seas covered a period of five years. In his 
Journal Farragut shows his keen powers of ob- 
servation, his strong sense of humor, his exuber- 
ance and enjoyment of life, and his ability to 
extract the most out of every passing phase of his 
profession and his experiences. 

No events of importance or of especial interest 
took place during these years of routine service, 
yet to Farragut they were years of valuable train- 
ing and of broadening education. He visited Gib- 
raltar, Carthagena, Tripoli and Algiers, Italy and 
Sicily. Wherever he travelled, he took a vivid 

350 



ADVENTURES WITH PIRATES 351 

interest in the scenes and monuments, in the man- 
ners and customs of the people, and he has left in 
his Journal a graphic and entertaining account of 
his impressions. 

In the spring of 1819 Farragut received an 
appointment as acting lieutenant on the brig 
Shark. This he considered to be one of the im- 
portant events of his life, as he was but little over 
eighteen years of age. More than a year later he 
returned to the United States, and there passed his 
examinations. 

Two years afterward he embarked on a cruise 
of active service and exciting adventure. The 
Mosquito fleet had been fitted out for an ex- 
pedition against the pirates of the Caribbean Sea, 
and was placed under the command of Commodore 
Porter. Farragut immediately asked for orders, 
and was assigned to the G-reyhound^ one of the 
small schooners in the squadron. Great pains had 
been taken by Commodore Porter in the equip- 
ment of the squadron, which counted men-of-war 
schooners, coasting schooners, sloops of war, and 
large rowing barges. It was expected to sweep 
the pirates and rovers of the West Indies from off 
the waters, and drive them from their lurking 
places along the coast. 

The squadron set sail on the 12th of February, 
1823. Through a heavy northeasterly gale they 
made their way in twelve days to the West Indian 
group. The Crreyhound and four other schooners 



352 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

were detailed to go through the Mona Passage, 
between Hayti and Porto Rico, and to ferret out 
every creek and inlet on the coast of St. Domingo 
and Cuba. This was the favorite hunting-ground 
of the pirates, whose lairs filled the crevices of the 
island shores. 

Two of the barges captured a pirate schooner of 
sixty tons, with sixty men on board, led by the 
famous and bloodthirsty Diablito, whose atrocities 
were renowned throughout the islands. Diablito 
thought to annihilate the boats as they bore down 
in fine style on the pirate craft, but his grapeshot 
did little damage, and when the American crew 
boarded the schooner, the pirates, with scarcely an 
effort at self-defence, jumped into the sea. Not 
many of the fugitives escaped. They were cut to 
pieces by their pursuers, and Diablito fell, pierced 
through the head by a bullet. 

Another noted pirate, Domingo, a gallant and 
chivalric fellow, succeeded in making his escape. 
Two barges had fallen in with his schooner, and 
gave him an exciting chase for two hours, under 
a brisk, peppering fire. As they neared the shore, 
the barges overtook him ; but when the American 
sailors boarded the stern, the pirates jumped over 
the bows and fled to safety. 

The encounters with the sea robbers were not 
always afloat. Several parties landed and ran- 
sacked the shores, pursuing the wily outlaws 
through marsh and bramble and impassable chap- 



ADVENTURES WITH PIRATES 353 

arral. Farragut served more than once on these 
difficult and perilous adventures. After cruising 
along the south side of Cuba, through the Jardines 
and around the Isle of Pines, the Greyhound 
dropped anchor off Cape Cruz. At three o'clock 
in the morning Farragut landed at the head of a 
party of seventeen marines and boys. Hewing 
their way with cutlasses through the dense growth 
of sharp cactus, and scrubby thornbush, struggling 
over the sharp-edged rocks, and through mire and 
swamp, in heat so intense that men fainted on the 
way, they advanced slowly and painfully. 

When they finally reached the pirates' lurking 
place, the robbers had fled ; but they found to their 
surprise several large houses entirely hidden from 
view, and a dozen boats filled with apparatus for 
turtling and pirating. They found, besides, a num- 
ber of caves which might have concealed in safety a 
thousand men, and which were filled with plunder 
of all kinds. The Americans burned the houses 
and carried off the plunder and arms. 

Farragut's strong sense of humor comes out in 
the narration of these adventures. In the midst of 
privation, hardships, and exposure he saw always 
the amusing rather than the painful side of every 
episode. He possessed a fulness of life and en- 
joyment, a buoyancy, a love of fun, and a strong 
manliness that carried him through the most trying 
scenes. He writes in his Journal : '' It is to the 
enjoyment of these trials that T have always felt 



354 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

myself indebted for whatever professional reputa- 
tion I have attained." 

One of the amusing incidents he relates in 
connection with the Mosquito war was on the 
arduous march through the fever-stricken marshes 
of the Cuban shore. He writes : " When we had 
advanced about half a mile into the thicket, I 
ordered a halt, to await the preconcerted signal- 
gun from the schooner. At this moment I heard 
a great noise in our rear, and it occurred to me 
that the pirates might be behind us in force. In 
forming my men to receive the attack, I made a 
most animated speech, encouraging them to fight 
bravely, but had scarcely concluded my harangue 
when it was discovered that the noise proceeded 
from about ten thousand land-crabs making their 
way through the briers." 

The cruise was continued through the spring 
and summer with occasional runs to Key West and 
Norfolk for re victualling. During the latter part 
of the time Farragut succeeded in getting the 
command of a schooner, and carried her through 
storms and gales, along the Gulf where navigation 
was difficult and dangerous. This experience was 
one of great value to him, developing a self-reliance, 
vigilance, and confidence that served him in after 
years. " It was an admirable school for a young 
officer," he writes, " and I realized its benefits all 
my life. I have never felt afraid to run a ship 
since, generally finding it a pleasant excitement." 



ADVENTURES WITH PIRATES 355 

His successor in the command of the Ferrety Lieu- 
tenant Bell, capsized her at once off the north 
coast of Cuba, and lost many of his crew. 

Yellow fever broke out on the squadron and 
carried off a large number of officers and men, but 
Farragut fortunately escaped until the close of his 
service, when he was taken down with the fever 
within sight of Washington, on the home run. It 
was several months before he entirely recovered 
from the effects of this illness. 

In 1825 he was promoted to a lieutenancy. 
From that time until the beginning of the Civil 
War his life was uneventful, and was devoted 
chiefly to routine duty. His first service after his 
promotion was on the frigate Brmidywine^ one of 
the fastest-sailing vessels "in the world," which 
had been chosen to carry General Lafayette back 
to France. He was afterward ordered to the 
receiving ship Alert, at the Norfolk Navy Yard, 
where he remained for two years. There he 
interested himself in establishing a school for 
the ship's boys, most of whom did not even know 
their letters. 

In October, 1828, he received orders to the 
sloop of war Vandalia, and sailed for the Brazil 
station, arriving at Buenos Ayres in the heat of a 
revolution. General Lavalle, who headed the 
insurgents, held the city, while General Rosas, 
the afterward famous dictator, was laying siege 
to it with five hundred guachos of the pampas. 



356 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

Lavalle was at last forced to give in, and peace 
was restored. After lying off the city for five 
months the Vandalia returned to Rio de Janeiro, 
where Farragut, together with the other offi- 
cers of the ship, paid his respects to the Em- 
peror of Brazil, Dom Pedro I. 

The next few years were a succession of periods 
of distant cruises and of shore duty, all of them 
equally unimportant, but serving to develop Farra- 
gut's quickness of observation, executive ability, 
and knowledge. He was at all times keenly in- 
terested in those under him, and was in return 
greatly beloved by them. An officer who sailed 
with him when he was first lieutenant, or execu- 
tive officer, of the Natchez^ says : " Never was the 
crew of a man-of-Avar better disciplined, or more 
contented and happy. The moment all hands 
were called and Farragut took the trumpet, every 
man under him was alive and eager for duty." 

In 1838 Farragut went to sea again as com- 
mander of the sloop Erie^ and was ordered on an 
interesting cruise to the coast of Mexico. War 
was at that time in progress between France and 
Mexico, and Farragut watched with deep interest 
the bombardment and capture of San Juan de 
UUoa, and its gallant defence by the Mexicans. 

In September, 1841, he received his commission 
as commander in the navy, and in 1855 was pro- 
moted to the rank of captain, the highest grade in 
the United States navy before the Civil War. 



I 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FIGHT 

The period of Farragut's brilliant and victorious 
career opened in 1862, when he was already sixty- 
one years of age, and covered three short but 
teeming years. Not until the outbreak of the 
Civil War did the opportunity come for which he 
had been waiting and preparing himself through 
fifty-two years of faithful and intelligent service. 
It came at a time when most men think to retire 
from scenes of stirring activity and overwhelming 
responsibility; but it found him ready with una- 
bated vigor and fearless devotion to accept the 
charge that fortune had brought him and that his 
country looked to him to fulfil. 

Those inland waters which were to be thence- 
forth inseparably connected with his name and 
reputation, became from the first the chief seat of 
the naval operations of the war. The control of 
the banks of the Mississippi was from the opening 
of the struggle recognized to be of primary impor- 
tance to the Northerners. The whole stretch of 
shore from Memphis to the Gulf of Mexico lay in 
the hands of the Confederates, who were thus able 
357 



358 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

to ship large quantities of supplies from the south- 
west to the seat of war. 

The plan that was laid before President Lin- 
coln and a body of experts, and adopted by them, 
was a naval expedition against New Orleans. A 
fleet of wooden ships was to run past Fort Jackson 
and Fort St. Philip, the powerful seaward defences 
of New Orleans, break through the river obstruc- 
tions, destroy the Confederate fleet, appear suddenly 
before the Crescent City and capture it. The proj- 
ect was bold and difficult, and would require an 
officer of resolution and audacity to carry it into 
successful execution. The choice fell on Farragut. 

On the 9th of January, 1862, he was appointed 
to the command of the Western Gulf Blockading 
Squadron, and, hoisting his flag on the Hartford^ 
he put to sea from Hampton Roads early in Febru- 
ary. The rendezvous. Ship Island, was reached 
in eighteen days. Farragut had under his com- 
mand a fleet of twenty-seven ships, among which 
were sloops of war and gunboats, and twenty- 
one mortar-schooners. The fleet carried two 
hundred guns. An army of fifteen thousand men, 
under General Butler, was to follow the fleet in 
transports and hold the captured places. 

The Confederate defences, against which Far- 
ragut was to operate, were formidable, and had 
been prepared with great care and skill. The 
mouth of the Mississippi spreads out into five 
passes, or channels, made difficult for the passage 



THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FIGHT 359 

of any but light-draught ships on account of the 
large deposits of mud brought down by the river. 
At a bend in the river, twenty miles above the 
passes, two powerful forts, mounting a hundred 
and fifteen guns and garrisoned by fifteen hundred 
men, defended the approach from below. 

Near the forts two chains were stretched from 
shore to shore and supported by eight hulks. 
Above the works were anchored the river flotilla 
and the Confederate fleet of fifteen vessels, includ- 
ing the ironclad ram Manassas and the large float- 
ing battery Louisiaria. Behind the fleet, a hundred 
miles up the river, lay New Orleans, the goal of 
the Union expedition. 

These were the dangers and difficulties that 
Farragut was called upon to face successfully. 
" Success is the only thing listened to in this war," 
he writes, *' and I know that I must sink or swim 
by that rule;" and later he again writes: "Any 
man who is prepared for defeat would be half 
defeated before he commenced. I hope for success ; 
shall do all in my power to secure it, and trust to 
God for the rest." 

It was with this determination to win that he 
entered upon the great enterprise that had been 
intrusted to him. " If I die in the attempt, it will 
only be what every officer has to expect. He who 
dies in doing his duty to his country, and at peace 
with God, has played out the drama of life to the 
best advantage." 



360 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

The first difficulty encountered by Farragut was 
in the passing of the bar. Some of the heavier 
ships ran aground several times, and the Mississippi 
was dragged by tug-boats through a foot of mud. 
It took two weeks' work to get the Pensacola over 
the bar ; the Brooklyn was taken in tow, and after 
eight days' hauling finally cleared the mud-banks. 
The Colorado was not able to pass at all. 

On the 7th of April seventeen ships floated in 
the river and steamed up to within three miles of 
Fort Jackson. Several days were spent in making 
a survey of the river for the placing of the mortar- 
schooners. It was a hazardous service, done in 
open boats, under the galling fire of the enemy's 
sharpshooters and the shells from the forts. On 
the morning of the 18th of April all the schooners 
were in position, and signal made to open fire. 

Concealed in the trees and dense underbrush of 
the shore, their upper masts and rigging dressed 
with bushes and branches to hide their movements, 
the schooners were moored within two miles of 
Fort Jackson, yet were entirely out of sight. A 
steady and ceaseless bombardment was kept up for 
six days. Six thousand shells fell upon the forts. 
Every minute two shells shot through the air and 
exploded among the fortifications, breaking the 
bastions and carrying damage wherever they struck. 
Meanwhile a detachment steamed up the river, at 
intervals, and shot out in sight of the forts to divert 
the enemy's fire from the schooners. 



THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FIGHT 861 

During the night work slackened to give the 
men some rest. As darkness, and with it quiet, 
settled down upon the northern fleet, the shapes 
of the vessels being scarcely visible in the shadows, 
the whole sky was suddenly lighted as by a con- 
flagration. Mighty tongues of flame came drift- 
ing down the river, darting and sweeping from 
bank to bank, and reaching high into the air in 
a roaring mass. It was a fire-raft, one hundred 
and fifty feet long, piled with pine knots, and 
heading for the fleet of wooden ships. Destruc- 
tion seemed inevitable. But the ships crowded 
for the shore, and the raft drifted harmlessly down 
the middle of the stream. Other fire-rafts fol- 
lowed, the dry wood, smeared with turpentine, 
flaming dangerously in the high wind; but sev- 
eral boats were sent out to meet them, and the 
sailors dexterously tackled them and towed the 
burning mass inshore. 

Farragut soon saw that the bombardment of 
the forts by the mortar-boats, although it was 
kept up incessantly for six days and nights, could 
not effectually reduce them or even silence the 
enemy's guns. He had already determined on 
the daring and brilliant plan of making a dash 
past the forts and capturing New Orleans, and he 
was gradually preparing for the attempt. On the 
third night of the bombardment he sent out his 
fleet captain, Henry H. Bell, on a dangerous mis- 
sion. Placed in command of two gunboats, the 



362 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

Itasca^ Captain Caldwell, and the Pmola, Captain 
Crosby, he was ordered to break through the 
barrier of schooners and chains which the Confed- 
erates had thrown across the river directly below 
the forts. 

The service was one of great temerity, for the 
gunboats were obliged to do their work within 
range of the enemy's fire. Captain Caldwell gal- 
lantly ran alongside one of the hulks and boarded 
her. While he was making preparations to fire 
her, the chains were slipped without his knowl- 
edge, and both vessels turned inshore and ran 
aground under the forts. 

In this dangerous position and under a tremen- 
dous fire the Itasca was obliged to remain until the 
Pinola came to her help. Still undaunted, Cap- 
tain Caldwell, with marvellous coolness and 
courage, ran his gunboat up the river through the 
gap made in the obstructions. After going some 
distance he turned about, and bore down upon the 
barrier full speed. The bow caught the chain, 
lifted it three or four feet out of the water, and 
severed it. The gunboats then rejoined the fleet. 

On the night of the 23d of April, Captain Cald- 
well again went up the river to see if the gap were 
still open, and after twice pulling above the ob- 
structions he drifted downstream with the news 
that the passage was clear. The niglit of the 24th 
had been chosen for the attempt. Farragut had 
already issued his general orders to the fleet, and 



THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FIGHT 363 

had visited every ship to see that they had been 
carried out. The hulls were smeared with Missis- 
sippi mud to make them less visible, the decks 
were whitewashed so that objects could be seen in 
the absence of lights, bags of sand and sails pro- 
tected the machinery, and all the higher spars and 
unnecessary rigging were sent ashore. Grapnels 
were put in the boats, force-pumps and engine 
hose made ready, ladders were thrown over the 
sides for the carpenters to stop the shot-holes, tubs 
of water were placed about the decks. Farragut's 
general order closed with these words: "I wish 
you to understand that the day is at hand when 
you will be called upon to meet the enemy in the 
worst form for our profession. . . . Hot and cold 
shot will be freely dealt to us, and there must be 
stout hearts and quick hands to extinguish the one 
and stop the holes of the other." 

The great struggle was at hand. On the night 
of the 24th of April, soon after midnight, the ships 
were cleared for action, and at five minutes before 
two the signal made to weigh anchor. As the 
moon rose full and clear, at half-past three, the 
whole fleet was under way. Silently the ships 
steamed up toward the forts ; but already the un- 
usual sounds had been heard by the enemy's look- 
outs, and the Confederates were ready to receive 
them. Bonfire after bonfire flashed from the shore, 
and blazing fire-rafts illumined every inch of the 
river way. The run could no longer be made in 



364 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

secret; it must be done under the full fire of the 
hostile works. 

As the ships in single file approached the line of 
hulks, the mortar-schooners opened a heavy fire 
of shells upon the forts. The fleet advanced in 
three divisions, the van led by the little Cayuga, 
Not until the leading vessel was under the forts 
was she discovered, and then a tremendous fire was 
opened on her. Lieutenant Perkins, who was pilot- 
ing the Cayuga^ writes : " The air was filled with 
shells and explosives, which almost blinded me as 
I stood on the forecastle trying to see my way, for 
I had never been up the river before. I soon saw 
that the guns of the forts were all aimed for mid- 
stream, so I steered close under the walls of Fort 
St. Philip ; and although our masts and rigging got 
badly shot through, our hull was but little damaged. 
After passing the last battery and thinking we were 
clear, I looked back for some of our vessels, and 
my heart jumped into my mouth when I found I 
could not see a single one. I thought they all 
must have been sunk by the forts." 

The devoted little Union gunboat, that had 
braved the first murderous fire of the enemy, 
seemed for the moment to have been deserted. 
With wonderful pluck she steamed ahead straight 
into the eleven gunboats which, in the uncertain 
glare and flash, seemed to be bearing down upon 
her, and, Perkins adds, " it seemed as if we were 
'gone' sure." Three of the Confederate steamers 



THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FIGHT 365 

attacked her at once and attempted to board her. 
It seemed impossible that with her two guns she 
could resist such an onslaught. That she was a 
doomed ship appeared almost certain. 

When one of the Confederate boats was within 
thirty feet, the Cayuga trained her 11-inch gun 
upon her, and crippled her so that she was obliged 
to run inshore and was soon on fire. The second 
enemy hauled off after a shot from the Parrott 
gun had lodged in her starboard bow. Only one 
was left, and the boarders were called aft to tackle 
her, when the Union Varuna suddenly sped upon 
the scene, *' rushing upstream like an ocean racer, 
belching black smoke, firing on each burning vessel 
as she passed," as a Confederate lieutenant de- 
scribed her dash into the midst of the fight. 

Then followed an exciting race and duel. Reck- 
less and impetuous, the Varuna steamed rapidly 
through the Confederate gunboats and went flying 
up the river alone and unsupported. Behind her, 
in her tracks, unknown to her and unseen in the 
lurid darkness, sped the Confederate Grovernor 
Moore in quick pursuit. To deceive her enemy 
she hoisted a white light at the masthead and a red 
light at the peak, the distinguishing lights of the 
Union vessels. Under a full head of steam she 
raced headlong up the river, the steamer " shaking 
all over and fairly dancing through the water." 
Slowly Lieutenant Kennon gained on his unsus- 
pecting rival and ran her down at last. Hauling 



366 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

down the Union lights, he opened fire. The duel 
was furious and deadly. The second shot raked 
the Varmia ; she responded with a broadside that 
killed and wounded many men on the Moore. 

The Confederate fired recklessly through his 
own bow in his endeavor to hit the enemy's engine- 
room, and swiftly rammed his opponent near the 
starboard quarter, then backed and rammed again. 
The Varuna was sinking, but was still undaunted. 
She threw three shells into her antagonist, which 
crippled the Moore and set her on fire. Fifteen 
minutes later the Varuna sank, and the Moore sur- 
rendered to a Union vessel, which had just come 
up the river. 

Meanwhile at the forts and directly above them 
the scene was one of the greatest confusion and 
the wildest excitement. One of the Union vessels 
fired a broadside into a friend instead of an enemy. 
At the moment the Varuna sped past the Cayuga 
at the opening of the struggle, Perkins writes: 
" Just then some of our gunboats which had passed 
the forts came up, and then all sorts of things hap- 
pened. One of our gunboats attacked one of the 
Cayuga! 8 prizes ; I shouted out, ' Don't fire into 
that ship, she has surrendered.' Three of the 
enemy's ships surrendered to us before any of our 
vessels appeared." 

In passing the forts the larger ships stopped and 
played their powerful batteries with great effect, 
receiving a heavy fire in return. The lighter ships 



THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FIGHT 367 

passed swiftly on, sweeping the parapets with grape 
and shrapnel. The whole of the first division 
cleared the hulks and the forts successfully. 

Then rapidly in its wake came the centre, com- 
posed of three large ships — the Hartford^ Farragut's 
flag-ship, the Brooklyn^ and the Richmond. The 
firing of the forts and of the first column had filled 
the air with dense clouds of smoke, which made the 
darkness almost impenetrable and greatly hampered 
the movements of the ships. Scarcely was the 
Hartford abreast of the forts than a fire-raft came 
down the river, bearing full upon her. To avoid 
this danger she headed across the river and ran 
aground under the batteries of Fort St. Philip. 
In this critical position she remained for some 
time, receiving all the while the terrible fire of the 
enemy. " It seemed to be breathing a flame," 
Farragut said afterward. 

As the Hartford lay at the mercy of the enemy, 
plying her batteries on the fort, the fire-raft, guided 
by a tug, came boldly alongside. In a moment 
sheets of flame rushed up the masts and wrapped 
the rigging of the flag-ship, and tongues of fire 
leaped through the port-holes. The fire depart- 
ment was called and played the hose promptly and 
with perfect discipline. The whole crew was un- 
der complete self-control, but Farragut afterward 
writes : " It was the most anxious night of my life. 
I felt as if the fate of my country and my own life 
and reputation were all on the wheel of fortune." 



368 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

The fire was quickly extinguished, a shot sank the 
tug, and the Hartford backed clear into deep water. 
But her head was now downstream, and it was some 
time- before she could be turned around. 

Bravely the other vessels continued on their 
course against the heavy current of the river, meet- 
ing with varying adventures and displaying won- 
derful gallantry. It was a night when men showed 
the stuff of which heroes are made, when they 
stood calm and undismayed amid storms of grape, 
the blaze of musketry, and the fearful explosion of 
the shells. 

Fourteen of the ships passed clear of the obstruc- 
tions and the forts; only one was lost, and that was 
the foolhardy Varuna. The last three gunboats 
did not reach the forts until daybreak ; and when the 
batteries opened on them at point-blank range, they 
were forced to turn back and drifted downstream. 

The wonderful feat had been accomplished. 
Farragut had brought his fleet of thirteen wooden 
vessels past the obstructions and the formidable 
batteries of two forts, against a heavy current, and 
had destroyed the enemy's flotilla. And this had 
been done with the loss of only thirty -seven men 
and about a hundred and fifty wounded. 

Throughout the 24th the fleet anchored off the 
Quarantine Station, and on the following morning 
steamed up the river to English Turn, where the 
two river batteries, the Chalmette and the 
McGehee, were quickly silenced. 



i 



CHAPTER XXIX 

THE CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS 

The Queen City of the Confederacy was the 
scene of fury, confusion, and dismay. The mob 
rose in a frenzy, and vented their rage on the 
streets and wharves of the city. As the fleet ad- 
vanced slowly toward New Orleans, the river was 
covered with wreckage. " Cotton-loaded ships on 
fire came floating down, and working implements 
of every kind, such as are used in ship-yards. The 
destruction of property was awful." So writes 
Farragut in his report of the river fight, and con- 
tinues : " The levee of New Orleans was one scene 
of desolation. Ships, steamers, cotton, coal, etc., 
were all in one common blaze, and our ingenuity was 
much taxed to avoid the floating conflagration." 

The fleet passed up to the city and anchored 
directly in front of it, and from the summit of the 
City Hall floated in defiance the State flag of 
Louisiana. Farragut sent Captain Bailey on the 
perilous mission of demanding the surrender of 
the city. He was accompanied by Lieutenant 
Perkins of the Cayuga^ who gives an account of 
their entry : " When we reached the wharf there 
were no officials to be seen ; no one received us, 

369 



370 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

although the whole city was watching our move- 
ments, and the levee was crowded in spite of a heavy 
rain-storm. ... As we advanced, the mob followed 
us in a very excited state. They began to throw 
things at us, and shout, ' Hang them ! hang them ! ' 
We both thought we were in a bad fix, but there 
was nothing for us to do but just to go on." 

Mr. George W. Cable, the now well-known 
author, was then a boy of fourteen, and was in 
New Orleans at the time of its capture. He has 
since described the entry of the two Union officers 
into the hostile city. Hearing the shouts and 
imprecations of the crowd, he hurried out and ran 
to the front of the mob, howling with the rest, 
" Hurrah for Jeff Davis ! " He writes : " About 
every third man had a weapon out. Two officers 
of the United States navy were walking abreast, 
unguarded and alone, not looking to the right or 
left, never frowning, never flinching, while the mob 
screamed in their ears, shook cocked pistols in 
their faces, cursed, crowded, and gnashed upon 
them. So through those gates of death those two 
men walked to the City Hall to demand the town's 
surrender. It was one of the bravest deeds I ever 
saw done." 

The mayor declined to haul down the Louisiana 
flag and hoist the stars and stripes in its stead. 
The infuriated mob would have killed any one who 
dared to touch the State flag. After three days 
of parley, Farragut sent a force of two hundred 



THE CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS 371 

and fifty marines with two howitzers, under the 
command of Fleet-captain Bell. The men were 
drawn up in front of the City Hall, and the howit- 
zers pointed up and down the street. A dense 
mob gathered in angry protestation while the 
Union men hauled down the Louisiana flas- and 
ran up that of the United States. 

Thus was consummated the magnificent triumph, 
the first of Farragut's brilliant successes which fol- 
lowed one another in quick succession and showed 
him to be the greatest naval commander of his time. 

Meanwhile at the lower forts, Jackson and St. 
Philip, the garrisons had mutinied and the works 
surrendered to Commander Porter, who had stayed 
behind with his mortar-boats. Farragut then seized 
all the steamboats, among them the famous Ten- 
nessee^ and sent them down for the troops of 
General Butler, who afterward took possession of 
the city. Several of the Confederate ironclad 
rams, on which the Southerners had placed so much 
hope, were destroyed. Farragut writes : " I sent 
Captain Lee up to seize the principal one, the Missis- 
sippi, which was to be the terror of these seas, and 
no doubt would have been to a great extent; but 
she soon came floating by us all in flames, and 
passed down the river. . . . We have destroyed, 
or made the enemy destroy, three of the most 
formidable rams in the country." 

The fall of New Orleans was the knell to Con- 
federate hopes on the 3fississippi, Panic spread 



372 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

along the whole length of the river. The two forts 
at Carroll ton, eight miles above New Orleans, 
were abandoned, the guns spiked, and the Union 
fleet passed on without opposition. 

Farragut was now in favor of carrying his fleet 
down the Mississippi and leading an immediate 
attack upon Mobile. The government held to 
its original intention of sending the fleet up the 
river to join the Union flotilla, under Flag-officer 
Davis, which then lay nine hundred miles above 
the mouth of the Mississippi. In vain Farragut 
tried to convince the navy department that his 
fleet was in no condition to be pushed up the 
river, that his force was inadequate, and that he 
had no sufficient military backing to aid in the 
operations. The shores of the river above New 
Orleans were commanded by high bluffs, which the 
Confederates had turned into a strong line of 
defence, and which could be reduced, not by a 
fleet of ships, but only by a large military force. 

In writing home Farragut says : " The govern- 
ment appears to think that we can do anything. 
. . . Well, I will do my duty to the best of my 
ability, and let the rest take care of itself. . . . 
They expect impossibilities." Peremptory orders 
from the government to " clear the river through " 
obliged Farragut to advance upon Vicksburg 
without further delay. " I hope for the best," 
Farragut said, " and pray God to protect our poor 
sailors from harm." 



THE CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS 373 

He was not especially sanguine as to the result. 
The enemy's batteries were beyond the reach of 
the ships. The attack must be made by daylight, 
as the river at that point was too difficult to 
navigate by night. The water was beginning to 
fall, and there were places which had not half the 
depth drawn by his ships. If he should succeed 
in going above Vicksburg, he did not expect to 
get down again before the next spring. These 
combined reasons made him somewhat despondent 
as to the success of the undertaking. 

On the 28th of June, at two o'clock in the 
morning, the signal was made to weigh anchor, 
and the squadron of eleven ships got under way 
and slowly stemmed the current. The mortar- 
boats were already in position and opened fire on 
the forts to assist the advancing line. As the 
leading ship came within range of the hostile 
works, battery after battery opened upon her, and 
"the ridge of bluffs seemed one sheet of flame." 
The scene soon became one of the most stirring 
animation. The flag-ship passed at slow speed, 
firing deliberately and with splendid effect, and 
pouring her shrapnel into the forts on the heights. 
Under a raking fire she even stopped once to 
allow the line to close up. Farragut was watch- 
ing the fight from his favorite stand, the mizzen 
rigging, when the captain of the gun on the poop- 
deck asked him to get down, as he wished to 
point his gun near that spot. Hardly had Farra- 



S74 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

gut left his post when the whole mizzen rigging 
was cut away just above his head. 

The batteries of the forts were soon silenced, 
and the men driven from their guns. In two 
hours the first two divisions of the squadron had 
passed the forts and the town; but owing to a 
misunderstanding of orders, the third division 
failed to advance beyond the works, and dropped 
down the river. In his official report Farragut 
remarks caustically : " The department will per- 
ceive that the forts can be passed, and we have 
done it, and can do it again as often as may be 
required of us." He adds, however, that it would 
not be easy to do more than silence the batteries 
for a time, as the enemy had a large force behind 
the hills, and it would not be possible to take 
Vicksburg without an army of twelve or fifteen 
thousand men. 

Farragut himself saw very little use in parading 
up the river past strongholds that could not be 
captured or held without the support of a large 
military force, especially as he realized that the 
control of the river at this point and the positions 
on land must soon be abandoned, owing to lack of 
supplies and of troops, and want of a sufficient 
number of ships to cover the entire line. Patrol 
work, which was what the operation now amounted 
to, was not to Farragut's taste. 

Having won a brilliant victory at Memphis, Flag- 
officer Davis was now able to come down the river 



THE CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS 375 

with his Mississippi flotilla and join Farragut a 
few miles above Vicksburg. Thus were carried 
out the full orders of the government — to clear 
the river through and make a junction between 
the upper and lower river commands. As the 
combined squadrons lay at anchor opposite Vicks- 
burg, news reached them that the Confederate iron- 
clad ram Arkansas, which had been built for the 
destruction of the Union flotilla, was in the Yazoo 
River. Two ships were at once ordered on a re- 
connoitring expedition. Hardly had they steamed 
six miles up the Yazoo than they met the ram 
rushing down at full speed. Realizing that they 
were unfit to attempt a struggle with the ironclad, 
the Union vessels fell back on the fleet, and kept 
up a running fire down the river. 

Warned of the approach of the ram, the Union 
fleet prepared to receive her ; but their fires were 
low, and there was no time to get up steam. All 
they could do was to train their guns on the enemy 
as she passed. Sweeping into the Mississippi, she 
turned downstream and ran the gauntlet of the 
entire hostile fleet. But her smokestack was rid- 
dled with shot, her colors carried away, and her 
speed reduced to a mile an hour. As she passed 
through their midst, the Union vessels showered 
their missiles, and poured their broadsides into 
her; but the shot glanced off her iron sides, and 
only a few shells pierced her armor and exploded 
within. Still she gallantly and audaciously kept 



876 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

on her way, aided by the current, and ran for 
shelter to Vicksburg, where she was moored under 
the guns of the fort. Although badly injured, she 
had not been conquered. But about three weeks 
later, in attempting to reach Baton Rouge, her 
machinery broke down and she ran aground, where 
she lay at the mercy of the Union vessels. See- 
ing that her condition was hopeless, the Confeder- 
ate commander ordered her to be set on fire, and 
the crew escaped to the shore. 

Meanwhile Farragut had again passed before 
the Vicksburg forts with his heavy ships, dropped 
down the river into deeper water, and returned 
to New Orleans. On the 12th of August, while 
anchored off the Crescent City, he received his 
commission as rear-admiral, and was the first 
officer in the United States navy to hoist his 
admiral's flag at the main. His promotion was 
accompanied by a vote of thanks from Congress, 
and in writing home Farragut says : " It is gratify- 
ing to me that my promotion should not have 
rested simply on my seniority, but that my coun- 
trymen were pleased to think that it was fairly 
merited." 

The Union vessels being now greatly in want of 
repairs and provisions, Farragut steamed down to 
the Gulf of Mexico and carried his ships into the 
ample harbor of Pensacola, where they lay through 
the summer months. 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE DASH PAST PORT HUDSON AND THE 
BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY 

While Farragut was at Pensacola, reports arrived 
that the Confederates were strengthening and for- 
tifying with renewed activity the two important 
strategic points on the Mississippi which were still 
in their possession — Vicksburg and Port Hudson, 
distant two hundred miles from each other. It 
soon became evident that a well-organized attack 
must before long be made on these two points. 
Farragut therefore returned to New Orleans and 
awaited events. A rise in the river, and a large 
reenforcement of troops to hold the strongholds 
captured by the fleet, were the two requirements 
for a new ascent of the Mississippi. " As Micawber 
says," writes Farragut, " ' I am waiting for some- 
thing to turn up,' and in the meantime having 
patience for the water to rise." 

Here, as always, the strongest motive with Far- 
ragut was his desire to do his duty, and it was a 
true estimate of his own character when he wrote 
home : " They shall never say that I backed out ; I 
will do my duty, and obey my instructions. Don't 
377 



378 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

think that I hold on from ambitious motives. I 
know too well the history of all revolutions not 
to know that I now have everything to lose and 
nothing to gain. My country has rewarded me 
for my services, and I am ready to do my duty 
and stay or go as directed." 

Firm principle, unshaken loyalty, cool judgment, 
a calm insight into human affairs — these were 
marked traits of Farragut's character. Unlike 
Nelson, his soul was not devoured by ambition ; but 
he had the determination to take circumstances 
at their flood and to win, if it were possible. 

His waiting for " something to turn up " did not 
last very long. The futile parade up and down 
the Mississippi, several minor reverses to his block- 
ading squadrons in the Gulf, his inability to be at 
every threatened point in his extensive command — 
all these made him restless and discontented. He 
longed for immediate action and was anxious to 
begin hostilities at once. Every delay that kept 
him inactive increased his desire to strike a heavy 
blow. The long-expected array had at last arrived, 
under the command of General Banks, but was not 
ready to move in the great attack. On the 1st of 
February, Farragut writes : " You will no doubt 
hear more of ' Why don't Farragut's fleet move up 
the river?' Tell them, because the army is not 
ready." 

By the end of February the loss of two ships of 
the up-river squadron determined Farragut to act 



THE DASH PAST FORT HUDSON 379 

immediately. General Banks pronounced himself 
ready to cooperate by a land attack in the rear of 
the enemy's batteries, in order to divert their fire 
from the ships. On the morning of the 14th of 
March the fleet had steamed up to within seven 
miles of Port Hudson and anchored off Profit's 
Island. The enterprise which Farragut had planned 
on his own responsibility was a difficult one. Port 
Hudson is situated on a sharp bend of the Missis- 
sippi River. A series of high bluffs, strongly for- 
tified with open and masked batteries, protected, 
along a mile and a half of the east bank, the 
approach to the town from below, and were a 
powerful obstruction to an advancing fleet. The 
strong current which sweeps around the curve of 
the river forms a deep channel under the bluffs. 
On the opposite bank are dangerous shoals and 
baffling eddies, making the navigation extremely 
difficult and dangerous. 

The fleet counted four ships and three gunboats. 
There were, besides, a number of mortar-schooners, 
which took a position ahead of the vessels to cover 
their advance, and were to keep up a rapid fire 
during the passage of the batteries. In Farragut's 
plan of attack he ordered each ship, excepting 
the Mississippi, to lash a gunboat to her port side, 
so that in case of injury or accident she could be 
towed by her consort to a place of safety. 

On the evening of the 14th of March, as night 
closed upon the Union fleet, a red light stealthily 



380 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

appeared at the stern of the Hartford, It was the 
signal " For the fleet to form in line and follow the 
flag-ship." Then came a few anxious moments, 
while the other ships raised their anchors, and until 
the answering lights showed that all was ready. 
The Hartford steamed slowly ahead while the 
Richmond and MonongaJiela^ with their gunboats, 
and the Mississippi followed their leader through 
the silent, almost breathless darkness. It was the 
deathlike tension before the burst of the coming 
struggle. 

Farragut's son, Loyall, who had joined his father 
at Pensacola, chanced to be on board the flag-ship 
on this exciting and never-to-be-forgotten night. 
As he was not in the service, and was by accident 
on the ship, Fleet-surgeon J. M. Foltz requested 
that the admiral would permit his son to assist 
below with the wounded, where he would be in the 
most protected part of the ship. The admiral's 
reply was characteristic of the gallant seaman. 
Having listened patiently, he said : " No, that will 
not do. It is true our only child is on board by 
chance, and he is not in the service; but, being 
here, he will act as one of my aids, to assist in 
conveying my orders during the battle, and we 
will trust in Providence and la fortune de la 
guerre^ The boy Loyall also declared that he 
"wanted to be stationed on deck, and see the 
fight." 

In the life of his father Mr. Loyall Farragut 



THE DASH PAST FORT HUDSON 381 

has given a thrilling account of the run past the 
batteries. " The scene," he says, " was one never 
to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. The 
night was closing in rapidly, and not a breath of 
air was stirring. An unnatural quiet prevailed on 
board the ship. The men are standing at the 
guns, with their sleeves rolled up, eagerly waiting 
for the work before them." The officers of division 
moved about the deck, giving orders in a low voice. 
"The admiral stood on the poop-deck, with his 
immediate staff around him, moving about occa- 
sionally in that quick, active way for which he 
was so conspicuous ; now watching the vessels 
astern, now looking ahead for the first offensive 
demonstration from the enemy." 

Suddenly from the right bank of the river 
rocket after rocket darted high into the air, and at 
the same moment came a sharp discharge from the 
first battery. As the Hartford replied with deci- 
sion and promptness, new batteries opened upon 
her, and the flash of their guns was, in the darkness, 
the only mark our gunners had at which to fire. 
Steadily the flag-ship kept on her way, sweeping in 
toward the enemy's works until, at one moment, 
she was so near the shore that a Confederate officer, 
who was in command of one of the batteries, said 
he could, with a ship's pistol, have killed the 
officers that stood calmly on the poop-deck. He 
trained on the group one of the guns loaded with 
grape, but it missed fire. 



382 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

The roar of the mortars, the shells passing like 
meteors across the heavens, the guns flashing and 
blazing until the ship seemed a mass of fire and 
quivered at every discharge, the fitful glare of the 
bonfires on the shore, the breathless night with no 
stir or sound save of the battle, the dense clouds 
of smoke settling heavily down upon the water 
and slowly wrapping the ships from sight, — all 
this made a scene of grandeur and awe. 

The pilot, on whose coolness and courage de- 
pended the safe passage of the ship, had taken his 
station in the mizzen top, according to Farragut's 
directions, so that he might see over the smoke. 
A trumpet was fixed from the top to the wheel, 
through which he gave his orders, calling out 
" Starboard ! " or " Port 1 " with perfect steadi- 
ness. As the firing increased and the smoke set- 
tled more and more densely over the ship, the 
pilot called out that he could not see ahead. In- 
stantly the firing was stopped and as the smoke 
lifted, the sharp bend in the river came into view, 
and it was seen that the ship was running on shore 
under one of the enemy's batteries. Her stem 
just touched the ground, but she was backed clear, 
and soon steamed ahead out of range of the Con- 
federate guns. 

As the Hartford with her consort anchored in 
safety above Port Hudson, Farragut looked anx- 
iously downstream for the rest of his fleet, but no 
friendly shape loomed out of the darkness and 



THE DASH PAST FORT HUDSON 383 



smoke. In the distance was heard the boom of 
the cannon, and, far below, the masts and spars of 
the other ships could be seen ''in relief against a 
fiery sky." Something must have happened. In 
a low, anxious tone Farragut exclaimed, "What 
has stopped them ? " But no one could answer the 
question. "Suddenly a brighter light shot up 
into the sky," writes his son, "and it was soon 
reported from the masthead that a ship could be 
seen on fire, and appeared to be the Mississippi! " 
Meanwhile at the batteries all was confusion and 
disaster. The remainder of the fleet groped its 
way blindly in the dense smoke, and lost sight of 
its leader. The Richmond ran the gauntlet of the 
works ; but just as she reached the bend in the 
river, a plunging shot struck the steam-pipe, and 
upset both safety-valves. So much steam escaped 
that the ship could make no headway against the 
current; she therefore turned back and drifted 
out of action. The Monongahela also reached the 
turning-point, but ran aground on the shoal and 
lay at the mercy of the enemy's fire for halt an 
hour. When she at last swung off and again 
headed upstream, an accidental shot disabled her 
engine, and she too drifted down the river. 

The Mississippi, at the end of the Ime had 
reached the last battery when she suddenly 
grounded at the bend. Every effort was made to 
back her clear, but it was impossible to get her 
off the shoal. For thirty-five minutes she was ex- 



384 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 



posed to the galling cross-fire from three batteries, 
answering in fine style with her own guns. At 
last the captain decided to abandon and destroy 
her, so that she should not fall into the hands of the 
enemy. The crew made their escape in the boats, 
and the ship was fired in four places. In a short 
time she was enveloped in flames and drifted down 
the river, a burning mass. Finally she blew up 
with a terrific explosion. 

Farragut found himself alone upon the river 
with one gunboat, between the two Confederate 
strongholds, Port Hudson and Vicksburg. Slowly 
and with the greatest vigilance he advanced up 
the river, making his way among the masses of 
floating logs, and silencing the scattered batteries 
on the shore. On the 19th of March, five days 
after the passage of Port Hudson, he anchored a 
few miles below Vicksburg, and communicated with 
Admiral Porter, who was in command of the up- 
river squadron, and with General Grant who was 
in command of the army encamped on the Louisi- 
ana shore. The ship was provisioned, and General 
Grant sent down a barge of coal by setting it 
adrift on the river during the night. The Eart- 
ford then started to patrol the river between the 
two fortified points. 

Reaching Port Hudson again early in April, 
iarragut was most anxious to communicate with 
the remainder of his fleet which had failed to run 
the batteries and still lay below. It was impos- 



THE DASH PAST FORT HUDSON 385 

sible to send despatches by land, as the enemy was 
watching every movement, but Mr. Edward C. 
Gabaudan, Farragut's secretary, offered to take 
the message by water. It was a perilous service, 
attended with great risks. Providing himself 
with a revolver and a paddle, he went alone 
in a small dugout, skilfully covered with twigs 
and leaves, and resembling the hundreds of float- 
ing logs which were continually drifting down 
the Mississippi. 

During the night he was set adrift on the cur- 
rent of the river and lay in the bottom of the skiff 
under the branches. Slowly and silently the 
strange craft floated downstream, under the for- 
midable batteries of Port Hudson and past the 
town. At one point the swift current swept his 
bark so close to the shore that he could plainly 
hear the voices of the sentinels. He dared not 
move, lest he should attract attention, and hoped 
not to be seen. But something in the appearance 
of the craft finally aroused suspicion, and a boat 
was sent to examine it. As Gabaudan lay motion- 
less in the bottom of his dugout, with his finger 
on the trigger of his revolver, he listened to the 
splash of the oars, and the talking of the men, and 
was determined to make a desperate fight for his 
life. But the Confederates stopped pulling before 
they had reached him, and he heard them exclaim, 
" It is only a log ! " 

He was safe. Without further adventure he 



386 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

reached the Richmond. Early in the night a soli- 
tary rocket darted into the air from below Port 
Hudson and burst into a thousand fiery stars 
against the dark sky. It was the signal to Farra- 
gut that his daring secretary was in safety and had 
succeeded in his gallant mission. 

The river campaign was drawing rapidly to a 
close. The blockade of Port Hudson from below 
and above made the navigation of the Mississippi 
and the Red Kiver dangerous for the Confederate 
steamers and barges, and supplies were with diffi- 
culty introduced into Vicksburg and Port Hudson. 
At the close of March General Grant began his 
march down the west bank of the Mississippi, and 
Rear-admiral Porter kept pace with him by run- 
ning past the batteries of Vicksburg. Feeling 
that he was no longer needed in the upper river, 
Farragut left the Hartford to continue the block- 
ade of Red River, and returned to New Orleans 
" by one of the dozen winding streams that cut 
through the country," so that he might look after 
the interests of the lower blockading squadron. 

At this time Farragut writes : " You say you 
think I am getting too ambitious. You do me 
great injustice in supposing that I am detained 
here by ambition. My country has a right to my 
services as long as she wants them. She has done 
everything for me, and I must do all for her. 
God knows there is not a more humble poor crea- 
ture in the community than myself. ... I shall 



THE DASH PAST FORT HUDSON 387 



go to cliurch to-morrow, and try to return suitable 
thanks for the many blessings that have been 
bestowed upon me." 

On the 7th of July Farragut received the news 
of the fall of Vicksburg, and a few days later of 
the surrender of Port Hudson. This completed 
the capture of the most powerful of the Mississippi 
strongholds, and assured to the Northerners the full 
control of the vast watercourse, a result to which 
Farragut rightly felt that he had in large measure 
contributed. He writes : " My last dash past Port 
Hudson was the best thing I ever did, except tak- 
ing New Orleans. It assisted materially in the 
fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson." 

Farragut now turned over the entire com- 
mand of the river fleet above New Orleans to 
Rear-admiral Porter, and about the 1st of August 
sailed for New York in the Hartford. His ships 
needed extensive repairs after their long and ardu- 
ous service, the flag-ship alone showing the ordeal 
of fire she had passed through by two hundred 
and forty scars made by shot and shell. For sev- 
eral months Farragut remained at the North, en- 
joying a well-earned rest at his home, honored and 
feted by his enthusiastic countrymen. 

The successful opening of the Mississippi now 
allowed the government to turn its attention to the 
extensive coast-line of the Gulf. Mobile was, next 
to New Orleans, the most important of the Confeder- 
ate ports, and had become more and more necessary 



388 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

to the Southerners as their water-line was being 
gradually narrowed by the blockaders. An attack 
on Mobile became therefore the next naval project 
of importance, and one of great moment to the 
Union. 

Early in January, 1864, Farragut ran up his flag 
on the Hartford and headed for the Gulf. Many 
wearisome and anxious months were still to be 
spent on blockade duty, which told severely on his 
health and nerves. Gloomy days followed one 
another, days " to try men's hearts," as Farragut 
writes, when the wind howled, the rain poured 
down in torrents, and the cabin was afloat in water. 
While the tedious work of blockading was going 
on, and Farragut was completing the preparations 
for the attack on Mobile, the Confederates were 
making elaborate arrangements to receive him. 
The defences at Fort Morgan were being powerfully 
strengthened, and the formidable ironclad Tennes- 
see^ which had been in process of construction, was 
finished and ready for action. 

It had been Farragut's ardent wish to attack 
Mobile immediately after the fall of New Orleans, 
at a time when the Confederates were still unpre- 
pared to make serious resistance, and when he 
could, without great difficulty, have carried through 
the enterprise with his fleet of wooden ships. But 
as the government had not then permitted him to 
put his plan into execution, the enemy had, in the 
long interval, been given the opportunity to con- 



THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY 389 

centrate their efforts, and increase their activity in 
its defence. The project had become so much 
more formidable, that Farragut was obliged to wait 
for a reenforcement of ironclads. These began to 
arrive toward the last of June. On the 31st of 
July Farragut writes, off Mobile : " The monitors 
have all arrived, except the Tecumseh^ and she is 
at Pensacola, and I hope will be here in two days." 

As early as the 26th of May he had written to 
Admiral Bailey : *' I am watching Buchanan in the 
ram Tennessee. ... I can see his boats very indus- 
triously laying down torpedoes." On both sides 
the preparations for the fast-approaching contest 
went on with zeal and activity. At last the mem- 
orable day fixed upon for the attack arrived. 
Mentally as well as professionally Farragut had 
made ready for the conflict with a firmness and 
stern determination which showed that he realized 
the heavy responsibility and the serious risks that 
lay before him, and understood the desperate 
nature of the undertaking which was destined to 
be the crowning glory of his career. His general 
order opened with the emphatic words, " Strip your 
vessels and prepare for the conflict." 

On the night of the 5th of August, 1864, the 
whole of the Union fleet rode at anchor outside 
the harbor of Mobile. The defences of the bay 
were formidable and carefully devised. The only 
deep-water channel for the passage of ships lay 
directly under the guns of Fort Morgan, the waters 



390 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

of the bay being for the most part shallow. Across 
the entrance, from Fort Gaines to the edge of the 
deep channel, the Confederates had driven a double 
line of stakes, and in the channel itself they had 
sunk a triple row of torpedoes and submarine 
mortar-batteries. 

Within the harbor and above Fort Morgan lay 
the Confederate fleet, commanded by Admiral 
Buchanan. Consisting of three gunboats and the 
ironclad ram Tennessee it was small in point of 
numbers, but formidable from the strength of the 
Tennessee^ an improvement on the Merrimac^ and 
the most powerful ironclad constructed in the 
South. 

Against this array of forts, vessels, and subma- 
rine mines, Admiral Farragut commanded a fleet 
of twenty-one wooden vessels and four monitors. 

Every preparation having been made for the 
approaching battle, Admiral Farragut, in the 
silent watches of the night, went below into his 
cabin, as Nelson had done before him at Trafalgar, 
and wrote to his wife : " I am going into Mobile 
Bay in the morning, if God is my leader, as I hope 
He is, and in Him I place my trust." At half- 
past five next morning, while the admiral was 
quietly breakfasting, he said to his fleet-captain, 
"Well, Drayton, we might as well get under 
way," and an hour later the line of battle moved 
slowly into the bay. Lashed together two by two, 
the vessels sailed in pairs, a smaller with a larger 



THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY 391 



ship, the Brooklyn leading the column, and followed 
by Farragut's flag-ship, the Hartford. Ahead, in 
single file, went the four monitors, led by the 
Tecumseh. 

Farragut had taken his stand in the rigging 
close under the maintop, from where he could 
clearly see the progress of the battle. The Tecum- 
seh fired the first two shots, and was the first to 
attempt the dangerous crossing of the line of tor- 
pedoes. The monitor had singled out the Tennes- 
see^ and was bearing down upon her. She was 
within a hundred yards of the Confederate ram, 
when a sudden explosion Avas heard, and the Te- 
cumseh^ having struck a torpedo, plunged head 
foremost, with her colors still flying, to the bottom 
of the channel. 

The critical moment of the fight had now come. 
The wooden vessels backed upon one another, and 
became entangled in what seemed to be inextri- 
cable confusion. The line of battle was doubled 
up in the most dangerous part of the passage ; the 
ships were at the mercy of the guns of the fort 
and of the enemy's vessels. 

The brilliant daring of Farragut at this crucial 
moment, his prompt decision and bold action, were 
the qualities that won the day at Mobile, as they 
were on that May day when Dewey entered the 
harbor of Manila. 

Seeing that the Brooklyn wavered, after the 
terrible disaster of the Tecumseh^ the admiral sig- 



392 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

nailed, " What's the trouble ? " The answer came, 
" Torpedoes ahead ! " Then followed Farragut's 
famous reply, which will go down in history: 
" Damn the torpedoes ! Go ahead. Four bells 
[full speed] ! " 

The admiral's flag-ship, the Hartford^ now took 
the lead. On she went, full speed, straight for the 
line of torpedoes. Complete silence fell upon 
the crew as the flag-ship passed the fatal line. A 
scraping sound was heard against the copper bot- 
tom of the vessel, but no explosion followed, and 
as the war-ship cleared the submarine defences 
with flying colors, the victory was practically 
won. After a short delay the other vessels fol- 
lowed their admiral across the line and up into 
the bay. 

During all this time the Union ships had been 
exposed to a galling fire from the forts and the 
gunboats, answering with their own formidable 
broadsides and moving in a very storm of shot, 
which inflicted heavy losses and great damage. 

Fort Morgan and the line of torpedoes had been 
bravely passed, the Confederate gunboats had sur- 
rendered or taken to flight, and the various vessels 
of Farragut's fleet were brought to anchor around 
the flag-ship in the upper part of the bay. At 
this stage in the conflict. Admiral Buchanan made 
his great mistake. Instead of remaining under the 
protecting batteries of Fort Morgan, he brought 
the Tennessee up the bay, inviting a single- 



i 




Farragut at Mobile Bay. 



THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY 393 



handed fight with the entire Union fleet. It was 
a charge of splendid daring, but ill-advised and 
purposeless. 

Farragut's men had been leisurely eating their 
breakfast and clearing the decks from the debris 
of the battle, expecting several hours of quiet, 
when the warning cry, " The ram is coming ! " 
ran through the ranks. Instantly the order was 
given, "Attack the ram ... at full speed," and 
the great ramming struggle began. 

Again and again the big wooden vessels charged, 
bows on, and struck the enemy's ironclad. Blow 
followed blow, and still the Tennessee stood im- 
pregnable. The shot of the broadsides glanced 
harmlessly from her armored sides. 

After a while the monitors joined in the con- 
test, and the continuous hammering was kept up, 
while shot after shot shook the great frame of 
the Tennessee. At last the rudder-chains were 
shot away, the smokestack was broken, the ship 
became helpless, and Admiral Buchanan was 
wounded in the leg. The command was taken 
by Captain Johnston, who for twenty minutes 
longer held out against the fearful pounding, and 
then, damaged and disabled, the Tennessee ran up 
the white flag and surrendered. 

Thus was the great fight ended, and Farragut 
left master of the bay. It was the most brilliant 
achievement of his life — a victory seized from the 
brink of overwhelming disaster, dependent upon 



394 ADMIRAL FAKRAGUT 



the instant flash of resolution and the noble cour- 
age which inspired him, without a moment's hesi- 
tation, to lead his baffled column into the very 
jaws of destruction and wrench from fortune a 
splendid triumph. 

Deeds of gallantry and heroism, which aroused 
the admiration of the entire land, brightened these 
scenes of horror; and the zeal and skill of the 
officers, the discipline of the crews, and the splen- 
did marksmanship of the gunners brought out the 
highest commendations from Farragut. On both 
sides the courage of the men was only equalled 
by the remarkable daring of the two admirals ; but 
with Buchanan this amounted to recklessness, with 
Farragut it was genius. 

" This was the most desperate battle I ever 
fought since the days of the old Ussex^'^ writes 
Farragut after the victory. Thus the opening and 
the closing scenes in his long naval career were 
the most stirring and stormy of his entire life. 

After the entrance into Mobile Bay, the sur- 
render of Forts Morgan and Gaines, and the 
destruction of Fort Powell, Farragut remained in 
the bay until November, overseeing the work of 
raising the torpedoes and clearing the channel. 
The long strain of work, responsibility, and ex- 
citement was gradually exhausting his vigorous 
body. Writing to the Secretary of the Navy, he 
pleads his poor health and asks for rest. " As 
long as I am able, I am willing to do the bidding 



THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY 395 

of the department to the best of my abilities. 
I fear, however, my health is giving way. The 
last six months have been a severe drag upon 
me, and I want rest if it is to be had." 

Sailing north toward the close of November, 
he steamed into New York harbor on the 12th 
of December, 1864. Later in the month a bill 
was introduced into Congress, and passed by both 
houses, creating the grade of vice-admiral, and 
naming Farragut as the first officer to receive the 
new rank in the United States navy. And in 1866 
he was raised to the new grade of admiral which 
was then created by Congress. 

In New York Farragut was received with ad- 
miring enthusiasm. He had won a place in the 
affection of his countrymen which no other hero 
could ever claim. Wherever he went, eager 
crowds greeted him with every demonstration of 
joy and gratitude. Not only in his own country, 
but throughout Europe, which he afterward visited 
as commander of the European squadron, honors 
and attentions were lavished upon him by crowned 
heads, by men of his own profession, and by the 
people. Whether in Great Britain, Spain, France, 
or Italy, the same flattering welcome awaited him, 
and the same enthusiastic ovations were showered 
upon him. At Malta the large British squadron 
of the Mediterranean, which was ready to start 
on a cruise to the Levant, was purposely delayed 
that it might do honor to the great American 



396 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

admiral, whose renown had penetrated to the most 
remote corners of foreign lands. 

Let us leave our greatest naval hero, and the 
most famous seaman of his generation, as every 
man of action would wish to be left, in the fulness 
and completion of his work. On his last sea 
voyage in the summer of 1870, as he stood on 
deck and looked wistfully up at his blue flag 
flying in the wind, he said : " It would be well 
if I died now^ in harness." A fe v weeks 
after speaking these words, when he was sixty- 
nine years of age, he passed quietly away at the 
house of a friend, on the 14th of August, 1870. 



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